Digital Microwave Communication Principles V1.0

Document code Product name
Target readers Huawei engineers Product version
Edited by Optical Network Product Service Department Document version 1.0
Digital Microwave Communication

Principles
Drafted by: Chen Shaoying Date: 2007-01-06
Reviewed by: Chen Hu Date:
Reviewed by: Date:
Approved by: Date:
Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd

All Rights Reserved
Confidentiality Level:
Digital Microwave Communication Principles V1.0 Internal Use Only
Revision Records
Date Revised version Author Description

2007-1-11 V1.0 Chen Shaoying Initial draft
2007-4-4 Huawei Confidential. No disclosure without permission. Page 2 of 144

Contents
Chapter 1 Microwave Communication Overview .......................................................................... 7

1.1 Basic Concepts of Digital Microwave ................................................................................... 7
1.2 Microwave Development Course.......................................................................................... 8
1.2.1 Microwave Evolution in the World .............................................................................. 8
1.2.2 Microwave Evolution in China .................................................................................... 9
1.3 Characteristics of Digital Radio Communication System ................................................... 10
1.4 Challenges and Opportunities for Digital Microwave Communication................................ 11
1.4.1 Optical Fiber Communication—Biggest Challenge for Digital Microwave
Communication ................................................................................................................. 11
1.4.2 Opportunities for Digital Microwave Communication ............................................... 12
1.5 Microwave Frequency Band Choice and RF Channel Arrangements................................ 14
1.6 Digital Microwave Communication System Model.............................................................. 16
1.6.1 Modulation Method of Digital Microwave ................................................................. 16
1.6.2 Channel Utilization of Each Modulation ................................................................... 18
1.7 Digital Microwave Frame Structure..................................................................................... 19
1.8 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 2 Introduction to Digital Microwave Equipment ........................................................... 21
2.1 Digital Microwave Equipment Classification ....................................................................... 21
2.2 Microwave antenna and feeder .......................................................................................... 23
2.2.1 Microwave antenna .................................................................................................. 23
2.2.2 Classification of Microwave Antennas ..................................................................... 26
2.2.3 Feeder System ......................................................................................................... 26
2.2.4 Branching System .................................................................................................... 27
2.3 Outdoor unit (ODU)............................................................................................................. 28
2.3.1 Constituents of Digital Microwave Transmitter and Major Performance Indexes .... 29
2.3.2 Constituents and Major Indexes of Receiver ........................................................... 31
2.4 Indoor Unit .......................................................................................................................... 33
2.5 Installation and Adjustment of Split Microwave System ..................................................... 34
2.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 36
Chapter 3 Microwave System Networking and Application....................................................... 36
3.1 Microwave System Typical Networking Modes and Station Types .................................... 36
3.1.1 Typical Networking Modes ....................................................................................... 36
3.1.2 Microwave Station Types ......................................................................................... 37
3.2 Relay Station....................................................................................................................... 38
3.2.1 Passive Relay Station .............................................................................................. 38
3.2.2 Active Relay Station ................................................................................................. 42
3.3 Digital Microwave Application ............................................................................................. 43
3.4 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 45
Chapter 4 Microwave Propagation Theory .................................................................................. 45
4.1 Electric Wave Propagation in Free Space.......................................................................... 45
4.1.1 Free Space............................................................................................................... 45
4.1.2 Propagation Loss of Electric Waves in Free Space................................................. 45
4.2 Influence of Ground Reflection on the Electric Wave Propagation .................................... 46
4.2.1 Concept of Fresnel Zone.......................................................................................... 46
4.2.2 Influence of Ground Reflection on Receiving Level ................................................. 48
4.3 Influence of Troposphere on Electric Wave........................................................................ 54
4.3.1 Ray Bend in Atmosphere ......................................................................................... 55
4.3.2 Concept of Equivalent Earth Radius ........................................................................ 56
4.3.3 Refraction can be classified into three categories based on the K value ................ 56

4.3.4 The Meaning of K Value in Engineering Design ...................................................... 57

4.4 Fading caused by Several Atmospheric and Earth Effects ................................................ 58
4.4.1 Fading Types............................................................................................................ 58
4.4.2 Influence of Troposphere on Electric Wave Propagation ........................................ 59
4.4.3 Fading Rules (microwave frequency bands lower than 10 GHz)............................. 61
4.5 Frequency Selective Fading ............................................................................................... 62
4.5.1 Multi-path Propagation of Electric Waves ................................................................ 62
4.5.2 Influence of Frequency Selective Fading on Transmission Quality of Microwave
Communication Systems .................................................................................................. 63
4.6 Statistic Feature of Fading.................................................................................................. 64
4.6.1 Microwave Fading Model—Rayleigh Distribution Function ..................................... 64
4.6.2 Engineering Calculation of Rayleigh Fading Probability .......................................... 65
4.7 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 66
Chapter 5 Anti-Fading Technology in Digital Microwave Equipment ....................................... 67
5.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 67
5.1.1 Purposes of Taking Anti-Fading Measures.............................................................. 67
5.1.2 Classification of Anti-Fading Measures.................................................................... 68
5.1.3 Evaluation on Anti-Fading Measures ....................................................................... 69
5.2 Adaptive Equalization ......................................................................................................... 70
5.2.1 AFE .......................................................................................................................... 70
5.2.2 ATE .......................................................................................................................... 72
5.3 Cross-Polarization Interference Counteracter (XPIC) ........................................................ 73
5.4 Automatic Transmit Power Control (ATPC)........................................................................ 74
5.5 Diversity Reception ............................................................................................................. 76
5.5.1 Classification of Diversity Reception ........................................................................ 76
5.5.2 Description of Space Diversity ................................................................................. 78
5.5.3 Compound Mode of Diversity Signals...................................................................... 80
5.6 Microwave Equipment Protection Mode ............................................................................. 81
5.6.1 HSM ......................................................................................................................... 81
5.6.2 HSB .......................................................................................................................... 82
5.6.3 Classification of Digital Microwave Equipment Protection Modes ........................... 83
5.7 Interference and Main Methods against Interference ......................................................... 85
5.7.1 Interference Source.................................................................................................. 85
5.7.2 Basic Methods of Communication System against Interference ............................. 85
5.8 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 87
Chapter 6 Digital Microwave Engineering Calculation ............................................................... 87
6.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 87
6.2 Microwave Path Parameter Calculation ............................................................................. 87
6.2.1 Microwave Station Antenna Communication Azimuth Calculation .......................... 87
6.2.2 Calculation of Path Distance .................................................................................... 89
6.2.3 Calculation of Elevation and Minus Angles.............................................................. 89
6.2.4 Calculation of Clearance .......................................................................................... 90
6.2.5 Calculation of Reflection Point ................................................................................. 91
6.2.6 Determining Antenna Gain....................................................................................... 91
6.3 Calculation of Microwave Circuit Index............................................................................... 92
6.3.1 Calculation of Receiving Level and Flat Fading Margin........................................... 92
6.3.2 Calculation of Interference Level.............................................................................. 92
6.3.3 Calculation of Diversity Receiving Parameter.......................................................... 94
6.3.4 Calculation of Circuit Interruption Rate .................................................................... 97
6.3.5 Rain Fading ............................................................................................................ 102
6.3.6 Gas Absorption....................................................................................................... 104
6.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 105
Chapter 7 Microwave Engineering Design Requirement ......................................................... 105
7.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 105
2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 4 of 144 pages

7.2 Basic Requirement of Microwave Path and Cross-section Design .................................. 106
7.2.1 Cross Section and Station Distance ...................................................................... 106
7.2.2 Clearance Standard ............................................................................................... 107
7.2.3 Antenna Height and Space Diversity Distance ...................................................... 108
7.3 Selecting Microwave Band and Configuring Polarization................................................. 109
7.3.1 Selecting Microwave Band..................................................................................... 109
7.3.2 Arrangement of Microwave Frequency and Polarization ....................................... 110
7.4 Technical Requirement of Digital Microwave Relay Communication Engineering Design113
7.4.1 PDH Microwave Engineering Design Technical Requirement............................... 113
7.4.2 SDH Microwave Engineering Design Technical Requirement............................... 116
7.4.3 Access Network Technical Requirement—26 GHz Local Multiple-point Distribution
System (LMDS) ............................................................................................................... 118
7.4.4 Access Network Technical Requirement—3.5 GHz Fixed Radio Access ............. 119
7.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 120
Chapter 8 Microwave Engineering Design ................................................................................ 120
8.1 Design Method.................................................................................................................. 120
8.1.1 Overview ................................................................................................................ 120
8.1.2 Route, Site and Antenna Height............................................................................. 121
8.1.3 Frequency Selection and Polarization Arrangement.............................................. 123
8.1.4 Circuit Performance Estimate ................................................................................ 124
8.2 Design Example................................................................................................................ 125
8.2.1 SDH Microwave Circuit .......................................................................................... 125
8.2.2 SDH Microwave Site Type and Polarization Configuration.................................... 135
8.2.3 Calculation of PDH Microwave Circuit Indexes...................................................... 139
8.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 142
Chapter 9 Precautions in Engineering Design .......................................................................... 142
9.1 Equipment Layout............................................................................................................. 142
9.2 Installation of Microwave Antenna .................................................................................... 143
9.3 Process Requirement for the Tower ................................................................................. 143
9.3.1 Process Requirement of New Established Tower.................................................. 143
9.3.2 Orientation Requirement of Newly Established Tower .......................................... 144
9.3.3 Requirement for Old Tower to be used.................................................................. 144
9.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 144

Key word:
Microwave antenna ODU IDU fading anti-fading route

site antenna height
Abstract:
This document describes basic concepts of the microwave and microwave
communication to help technical support staff learn microwave products and
improve their ability to maintain microwave equipment.
There are nine chapters in this document. First chapter is an overview about the
microwave communication; succeeding chapters introduce the digital
microwave communication equipment, split microwave, typical networking
modes and application and site types of the microwave, the relay site,
transmission theory of the microwave which includes fading in the transmission
process, technology against fading, microwave equipment protection modes,
interference and anti-interference technology.
The last four chapters relate the microwave engineering calculation, microwave
engineering design requirements, microwave engineering design methods and
issues that should be attended to in engineering design. As the fundamentals of
microwave engineering design, these four chapters are optional in reading.
Abbreviations:
None
References:
None

Chapter 1 Microwave Communication Overview
Objectives:
To understand what is microwave communication

To know the challenges and opportunities for the microwave communication
To have an overall concept about the microwave communication
1.1 Basic Concepts of Digital Microwave

Microwave is electromagnetic wave with frequency from 300MHz to 300GHz
and it is a finite frequency band of the entire electromagnetic wave spectrum.
According to the microwave transmission feature, microwave can be viewed as
plane wave. Along the transmission direction, the plane wave has no
longitudinal components of electric field and magnetic field. Both electric field
and magnetic field are vertical to the transmission direction. Thus, the plane
wave is called transverse electromagnetic wave and marked as TEM wave. For
the application of each frequency band in the microwave spectrum, see figure
1.1.
Figure 1.1 application of each frequency band in the microwave spectrum
In figure 1.1, VHF and LF are ground wave which is very capable of diffraction
and can diffract hundreds of kilometers; they are mainly used in radio and
navigation. MF is used in broadcast and is less capable of diffraction than VHF
and LF. HF is not ground wave, and it is reflected to the ionosphere. VHF and
UHF are used in TV. Though UHF is used in TV, (that is, the microwave is
involved) it is not called microwave. After the microwave, it is optical wave which
is also a type of electromagnetic wave.

Digital microwave communication refers to a type of communication mode

which uses microwave (frequency) to carry digital information through the
electric wave space, transmit independent information and conduct
regeneration. Microwave is weak in diffraction and it is only line-of-sight
communication, therefore, it has a limited transmission distance. In
long-distance transmission, relay is needed to connect sites. Thus, it is called
microwave relay communication.
Microwave communication uses microwave as the carrier of signals, which is
similar to optical fiber communication that uses light as the carrier of signals.
Simply speaking, transmitting module and optoelectronic inspection module
used for receiving in the optical fiber transmission system are similar to the
transmitting and receiving antenna. Compared with the optical fiber
communication with wire channels, microwave channel is wireless and
microwave communication is much more complicated.
1.2 Microwave Development Course

Microwave communication technology comes into being half a century ago. It is
a wireless line-of-sight communication means that propagates information in the
radio-frequency band around the ground. Original microwave communication
systems are all analog, and same as the coaxial cable carrier transmission
system at that time, they are the major transmission means of the
communication network long-distance transmission trunk. In the year of 1958,
China began to study, develop, introduce and apply the analogue microwave
communication technology. In the 1970’s, China developed the low- and
medium-capacity (such as 8Mb/s and 34Mb/s) digital microwave
communication system, which was the outcome of communication technology
from the analogue to the digital.
In the late 1980’s, SDH was widely used in transmission system and SDH
high-capacity digital microwave communication system of N×155Mb/s was
developed. Now, digital microwave communication, optical fiber communication
and satellite communication are considered as the three major means of
modern communication transmission. Following sections describe microwave
development history both in China and the world.
1.2.1 Microwave Evolution in the World
In the year of 1947, Bell lab built the first analogue microwave trial circuit (TD-X)
between New York and Boston. This circuit used vacuum tube to amplify signals
and adopted the frequency modulation (FM) mode. In the year of 1950, 4 GHz
TD-2 system carried commercial telephone services for the first time. Since
early 1950’s, except America, the backbones of Australia, Canada, France, Italy
and Japan were all installed with microwave-relay system similar to the TD-2
system. In the year of 1979, radio-channel capacity of Japanese commercial
system was up to 3600 telephone channels, and till 1980, American commercial
system AR6A adopted single-sideband modulation technology and arranged
6000 telephone channels in 30 MHz bandwidth of 6 GHz frequency band, which
made the transport cost of each channel to the minimum unprecedented. To
improve the voice quality, in the late 1960’s, digital radio-relay came into being

for the first time. To improve the frequency spectrum efficiency, high-status
modulation modes 64QAM, 128QAM, 512QAM appears and the frequency
spectrum efficiency is raised to 10bit/s/Hz. In the year of 1988, based on the
American SONET, the ITU formulated the SDH transmission network standard.
Compared with the former PDH, SDH unifies the standards of Europe and North
America and made intercommunication of STM-1 and higher rate in the world
become available. SDH system adopts synchronous multiplex and flexible
mapping structure. It can add/drop lower-order tributary signals directly to/from
higher-order tributaries; avoid multiplexing of many hierarchies and simplify the
equipment. Moreover, SDH system provides sufficient overhead bytes, which
strengthens the operation, management, maintenance and provision of the
network. Therefore, SDH was rapidly developed in the 1990’s.
1.2.2 Microwave Evolution in China
(1) Analogue Microwave Evolution
China already began to develop analogue radio communication system of 60

channels and 300 channels since 1957 and began the research of 600 channels
in 1964, 960 channels in 1966. And in 1986, China developed 1800 channels
analogue microwave system (sixth five year state key technologies R&D
program). Based on those achievements, China built analogue microwave
circuits of more than 20,000 kilometers.
(2) PDH Digital Microwave Evolution
PDH is formulated by CCITT (the previous name of ITU) in 1960’s. China

introduced a set of PDH microwave equipment from abroad in late 1960’s. In the
year of 1979, China built the first trunk PDH microwave circuit (between Beijing
and Wuhan, introduced from abroad by State Electric Power Ministry). In the
year of 1986, China independently developed 4 GHz 34 Mbit/s PDH microwave
system and built it between Fuzhou and Xiamen. During 1987 and 1989, the
former Telecommunications Ministry built 6 GHz 140 Mbit/s PDH microwave
circuit between Beijing and Shanghai. In 1992, China independently developed
6GHz 140Mbps PDH microwave system (achievement of seventh five year
state key technologies R&D program) and built it between Wuchang and
Yangluo in Hubei province. After 1995, low and medium capacity PDH
microwave systems needed in mobile communication coverage are greatly
developed. Split microwave system, which is easy to install and dismantle,
gradually replaces trunk microwave system.
(3) SDH Digital Microwave Evolution
SDH (synchronous digital hierarchy) was developed in the world in 1992. The
first SDH microwave circuit in China was introduced and built by Jilin Broadcast
Television Bureau in 1995. During 1995 and 1996, the former State
Telecommunications Ministry began to introduce and build SDH microwave
circuit. In 1997, the 6 GHz SDH microwave circuit (achievement of ninth five
year state technologies R&D program) developed by China independently
passed the verification and was accepted in Shandong. After the year of 2000,
Information Industry Ministry discontinues to build SDH microwave used in
national backbone public network. Due to the industry features and their own

demands, industries such as broadcast television, coal, oil, water and natural
gas pipe have already become the main force of the SDH microwave. SDH
minimized split microwave systems are already being applied in mobile,
emergent and metro networks.
1.3 Characteristics of Digital Radio Communication System

Radio communication system, especially the digital radio communication
system, has the following advantages:
Can be rapidly installed

Can use the existing network infrastructure repeatedly (digital radio uses the
infrastructure of the analogue radio)
Can cross complicated terrains (rivers, lakes and mountains)
Can use point-to-point radio transmission structure in the remote mountains
Can rapidly restore the communication after the natural disasters
Can protect hybrid multiple transmission media
Those advantages not only apply to the fixed nodes or temporary nodes and
feeder routes in the urban areas, but also apply to very long long-distance
routes.
For example, Russian Telecommunications build a very long long-distance

route (totally more than 8000 km) of SDH digital microwave radio-relay system.
This network uses the existing infrastructure, have total capacity of eight radio
frequency (RF) channels (six primary channels and two protection channels)
and each channel carries 155 Mbit/s.
Another example, Canada uses optical fiber transmission system and radio
transmission system together to constitute a transmission network, to overcome
the difficulties of geographical conditions.
High capability SDH microwave circuit of China should be Beijing-Guangzhou

backbone microwave circuit built in 1998, which occupies two frequencies and
is configured in 2×2×(7+1) with a total transmission capacity up to 4.8 Gbit/s.
In metropolises and urban areas, digital microwave is always considered as the

only optional means that can parallel optical cables in terms of building digital
nodes and distributing networks. In fact, it is very expensive to bury
underground cables in the metropolises and towns and it is unlikely to get
approved to trench in downtown areas, particularly in the developed countries
such as European countries and America. It is said that, in developed countries,
80%–90%of the transmission used for mobile coverage adopts digital radio
system.

In most parts of the world, radio-relay links may be the only available
high-capacity transmission medium in crossing thousands of miles of wood
areas, mountains, prairies, deserts, wetlands and other rough areas.
Furthermore, for the power consumption of radio-relay links is very low, solar
power already becomes a major factor in such rough areas using digital
radio-relay systems.
For the microwave circuit is unlikely to be damaged by human activities and
natural disasters, therefore, microwave system is an indispensable part to
constitute China communication networks and ensure the security of
communication networks.
Currently, microwave is still a most promising means of communications. In
1976 when the earthquake occurred in Tangshan, all the coaxial cables
between Beijing and Tianjin were broken, but the six microwave channels were
free from any damage. Therefore, if network planning is carefully and
reasonably carried out and proper information volume is used to cover the land,
radio-relay links together with other modern transmission media can support
and supplement optical fiber transmission networks.
Microwave yet has some disadvantages. In microwave transmission,
Line-of-sight transmission conditions should be ensured
Transmission distance between two stations should be not too long
Frequencies need to be applied for
Communication quality is greatly affected by the environment and
Communication capacity is limited
1.4 Challenges and Opportunities for Digital Microwave

Communication
1.4.1 Optical Fiber Communication—Biggest Challenge for Digital

Microwave Communication
Rising of optical fiber communication is the most scientific event in the twentieth
century. Since the optical fiber transmission theory is proposed in 1970’s and
the optical fiber is practically used in 1980’s, the optical fiber communication is
greatly developed. Due to its huge bandwidth, minimum loss and lowest cost,
optical fiber communication becomes a major means of the backbone
transmission and enormously impacts the digital microwave communication.
Challenge 1: can the backbone digital microwave systems be used
as protection for backbone optical fiber systems?
Since the beginning of 1990’s, administration of telecommunications begins to

use high-capacity optical fiber systems as the major transmission means of the
national information highway, which becomes an overwhelming trend. In the
middle and late 1990’s, when China administration of telecommunications notes
the huge capacity of the optical fiber communication, it also observes the great
influence of the optical fiber systems on the telecommunication when the
systems are affected by natural disasters and human destructive acts. To
ensure the normal running of communications, about ten national backbone
SDH radio communication circuits are established to protect the backbone
optical networks. However, in the twenty-first century, optical networks are
sufficiently built from west to east and from north to south, the previous
problems of optical fiber communication can be completely solved by redundant
circuit, and the significance of using digital microwave systems as the protection
of optical communications is reduced.
Challenge 2: can the capacity of digital microwave systems be increased?
To increase the capacity of digital microwave systems, microwave R&D

engineers adopts a series of advanced technologies:
High-status modulation demodulation, 64QAM/128QAM/256QAM/512QAM
XPIC—a cross-polarization interference counteract technology, which can

realize co-channel frequency multiplex. Then, the transmission capacity
can multiple under same radio-frequency bandwidth
New efficient correction coding technology, such as TCM, MLCM and RS
A series of anti-multi-fading technologies, such as frequency field

equalization, time field equalization, space diversity and all kinds of
diversity technologies
Other new technologies, such as ATPC, transmitting power spectrum

molding technology
It is said that, at the end of 1990’s, some research institutes claimed that they
already achieved the technology that under 28 MHz channel bandwidth, using
high-status modulation-demodulation 1024QAM, XPIC and other advanced
technologies to transmit STM-4 and make the total transmission capacity up to
4.8 Gbit/s in 500 MHz frequency band (such as L6 GHz frequency band).
However, due to many reasons, this technology is not commercialized in use.
Though capacity of 4.8 Gbit/s of the microwave communication systems is very
remarkable, it is far less than the capacity of optical fiber communications which
is up to dozens of or even hundreds of Gbit/s in a single fiber.
1.4.2 Opportunities for Digital Microwave Communication
As a radio transmission means, digital microwave transmission have the

advantages that the optical fiber cannot parallel in terms of flexibility,
anti-disaster and mobility. At present, the opportunities of digital microwave can
be included as follows: used as dedicated network or the backup and
supplement of the dedicated optical fiber transmission. China dedicated
networks, such as broadcast television, oil, natural gas pipe, coal and water, do
not need high capability transmission, normally, an STM-1 or several STM-1s.
Those networks are either built with optical fiber communication circuits, or only
built with single-line optical fiber communication links. They do not have the

advantage like the telecommunication does which is built with sufficient optical
networks from west to east and north to south. Therefore, those networks must
be built with SDH or PDH microwave circuits used
To transmit data services and telegraphy
As the protection for the optical transmission systems in natural disasters
In some situations that the optical transmission systems are inapplicable
In China, 2 G and 2.5 G mobile communication stations use most PDH

microwave communication circuits. Along with the award of 3G license, the
transmission capacity is to be expanded. In addition, participation of fixed
network operator may further raise the fever of mobile coverage. Succeeding to
the optical fiber transmission, the digital microwave transmission is surely to be
in increasing demands and the SDH microwave may be in great demand, too.
When China telecommunication products, especially mobile communication
systems are expanding to the oversea countries, digital microwave transmission
products is also exported.
Other methods of microwave communications, for example:
(1) Point to multi-point microwave communication system (PMP): it has two

categories of user line type and relay line type, the radio user loop in the
microwave frequency band can belong to the PMP. PMP is mainly used in
remote areas such as countryside, islands, and dedicated communication
networks.
(2) Microwave spreading data transmission system, such as point-to-point

2.4GHz spreading microwave, point to multi-point 2.4GHz spreading
microwave data network.
(3) Temporary microwave communication, which adopts upper frequency band

point-to-point microwave communication system and can easily settle burst
matters in the communications.
(4) Local multi-point distributed service, which works at the frequency band
from 26 to 28 GHz and can be used in the future wideband services access,
it is called wireless fiber.
Those various microwave communication methods may last perpetually for their
diversity and flexibility.

1.5 Microwave Frequency Band Choice and RF Channel

Arrangements
Frequency bands frequently used in microwave transmission include
7G/8G/11G/13G/15G/18G/23G/26G/32G/38G (defined by Rec. ITU-R). Each
frequency band is used as follows:
Figure1.2 the use of commom frequency band
(1) For long-distance PDH microwave circuit (more than 15 km), use 8 GHz
frequency band. If the distance is not more than 25 km, use 11 GHz. Choose
specific frequency band based on the local weather condition and microwave
transmission cross section.
(2) For short-distance PDN microwave circuit (normally used in the access layer,
within 10 km), consider using 11 GHz, 13 GHz, 14 GHz, 15 GHz and 18 GHz.
(3) For long-distance SDH microwave circuit (normally exceeding 15 km), use 5
GHz, 6 GHz, 7 GHz and 8 GHz. If the distance is not more than 20 km, consider
using 11 GHz. Choose specific frequency band based on the local weather
condition and microwave transmission cross section.
Frequency bands 7G, 8 G, 11G, 13G, 15G, 18G, 23G are not contiguous, for the
microwave frequency resources are internationally defined and radar needs to
use some frequency bands. The microwave used in transmission is above 4G,
2G is used by mobile communication. Microwave communications previously
use 1.5G, and later ITU-T decides to allocate 2G to mobile communication and
9G to meteorologic radar.
Radio resources are restricted by the administrations but the optical cable is not.
Microwave frequency needs to be applied for but it does not need to be applied
for in a certain period. In the past, 1.8G and 2.4G are used as spreading
frequencies such as microwave oven, Bluetooth. 1.8 G and 2.4 G can be
transmitted in the noise, but now the interference is too heavy and 2.4 G cannot
be randomly used.
In each frequency band, various frequency ranges, transmitting and receiving
(T/R) spacing and channel spacing are defined. The channel spacing is equal to
channel bandwidth. In using a certain frequency band, there are specifications

for the center frequency, T/R spacing and channel spacing. And the
specification can be looked up in relevant frequency specifications.
Figure1.3 simple concepts of microwave frequency band arrangements
After deciding the microwave frequency band, configure the RF channels. To

configure RF channels is to subdivide the specific frequency band, to make the
bands adapt to frequency spectrum that the transmitter needs. Those
subdivided frequency bands are called “channel”. Normally, any channel is
expressed by the center frequency it is configured and an ordinal number. The
width of the channel is decided by the spectrum of the signals transmitted, that
is, the capacity and the modulation mode adopted.
In configuring RF channel, following factors should be considered:
(1) Utmost economy and efficiency of the RF frequency

(2) Enough spacing between transmitting frequency and receiving frequency in
a microwave station to avoid serious interference generated by transmitter to
receiver
(3) In multi-channel working system, adjacent channels must have enough
frequency spacing to avoid interference generated by each other
(4) Enough guard bands should be reserved at the edge of the distributed
frequency band to avoid generating interference with the system working on the
adjacent frequency band
(5) Most RF channel arrangements are based on the homogeneous patterns
ITU-R F.746-3 “Radio-Frequency Channel Arrangements for Radio-Relay

Systems” recommends that homogeneous patterns are preferred as the basis
for radio-frequency channel arrangements. Normally, the basic channel spacing
is 2.5 MHz and 3.5 MHz. Digital microwave systems that adopt such channel
spacing support the bit rate of both North America and Europe. In the pattern of
3.5 MHz, it may be subdivided into 1.75 MHz spacing to meet the transmission
requirement of 1E1 and 2E1 in the low capacity mobile coverage.

1.6 Digital Microwave Communication System Model

Digital microwave communication system model:
channel decoding
demodulation
signal sink
modulation
Signal
channel
radio space
source coding
signal sink
transmit
Frequency Receive
end
band end
baseband
Transmission Baseban
signal channel signal
Figure 1.4 Digital microwave communication system model
Signal source of the transmit end is the equipment that provides original signals,
it outputs digital signals.
Channel coding is to improve the reliability of transmitting digital signals. For
noise and interference may inevitably exist in the channel, the digital signals
transmitted may generate error bit. To make the code element automatically
checked and corrected at the receive end, channel coder is used to add some
additional code elements to the input digital hierarchy based on certain rules,
and form new digital hierarchy. At the receive end, signals are checked based
on the rules of the new digital code element hierarchy.
Modulation is to modulate the digital signals to the carrier of higher frequencies
to make it adapt to radio channel transmission.
Functions of demodulation and channel decoding at the receive end are
opposite to that of modulation and channel code at the transmit end.
1.6.1 Modulation Method of Digital Microwave
Digital signal unmodulated is called digital baseband signal. For the baseband
signal cannot be transmitted in the radio microwave channels, it must be
converted to frequency band signal, that is, implement digital modulation to the
carrier based on the baseband signals. After the modulation, intermediate
frequency (IF) signal is obtained. Normally, frequency of the upper IF signal is
350 MHz, and the lower 140MHz. In some circumstances, frequency of the
upper IF signal is 850 MHz, and the lower 70 MHz.
To transmit the signal by the microwave, it should be converted to RF signals by
the upconversion. Upconversion is a process to mix the IF signals and a
high-frequency local oscillation signal and then get the upper sideband signal
after the frequency mixing. Down-conversion is a reverse process of the

upconversion with the same principle, but it gets different combination of local
oscillation signal and microwave signal, namely, obtains the lower sideband
signal after the frequency mixing. Slight shift of local oscillation signal may
cause large frequency shift of the emitting signals and the receiving signals.
Therefore, their frequency stability is dependent on the frequency stability of the
local oscillation signals.
Figure 1.5 Modulation process of digital microwave signal
Modulation process of digital baseband signal can be simply expressed as
¾ Amplitude shift keying (ASK): using digital baseband signal to change

carrier A, Wc AND φ are not changed
¾ Frequency shift keying (FSK): using digital baseband signal to change

carrier Wc, A and φ are not changed
¾ Phase shift keying (PSK): using digital baseband signal to change carrier φ,
A and φ are not changed
¾ Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM): using digital baseband signal to

change carriers φ and A, Wc is not changed
Currently, PSK is a critical modulation used in low and medium capacity radio
communication systems. It has better anti-interference performance and is a
very simple modulation and cost-effective. Current low and medium capacity
digital radio communication systems use quaternary phase shift keying (4PSK
or QPSK) modulation. Typical manufacturers include NEC, Ericsson and Nokia.
FSK is also a critical modulation used in low and medium capacity radio
communication systems. But its anti-interference performance and decoding
threshold is not better than that of PSK, and it occupies larger channel
bandwidth. Current low and medium capacity digital radio communication

systems use quaternary FSK (4FSK) modulation. Typical manufacturers include

DMC and Harris.
MQAM is a carrier keying mode largely used in high capacity digital radio
communication systems. This mode has higher frequency spectrum utilization
and when the modulation of more than binary, the signal vector set is
reasonably allocated and the mode can be easily carried out.
PDH microwave systems mainly use PSK, 4PSK (4QAM) and 8PSK and some
systems also use MQAM such as 16QAM. SDH microwave systems typically
use MQAM (usually, 32QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM and 512QAM). QAM
modulation has higher frequency band utilization. Waveforms of typical
modulations are as follows:
Figure 1.6 Waveform of typical modulations
1.6.2 Channel Utilization of Each Modulation
Channel utilization is typical concept used to compare the advantages and

disadvantages of each modulation. Channel utilization is defined as: the ratio of
signal baseband bandwidth to transmission channel bandwidth (bit/s/Hz). For
binary digital signal, the frequency band utilization of the baseband transmission
channel is 2FB/FB=2(bit/s/Hz).
For high-frequency channel, “baseband signal” is dual-sideband signal that is
already modulated.
In practice, for the baseband transmission channel is not ideally rectangular, the
channel bandwidth should be properly widened, and the nominal digital
microwave channel utilization is smaller than the theoretical value. Following is
the theoretical values of high-frequency channel utilization of each modulation
and nominal digital microwave channel utilization.
Table 1.1 Ratio of channel utilization of typical modulations
Modulation modes Bandwidth utilization of baseband Bandwidth utilization of Bandwidth utilization of nominal microwave
transmission channel high-frequency channel channel
4FSK 2 <1 <2

4PSK 2 1 2
8PSK 2 1.5 3

16PSK 2 2 4
16QAM 2 2 4
64QAM 2 3 6
1.7 Digital Microwave Frame Structure

In digital microwave system, to transmit digital orderwire, wayside information,
ATPC information correction bit, channel switching, some complementary bits
should be added to the main data flow from the SDH multiplexing equipment,
that is, radio frame complementary overhead (RFCOH).
Each manufacturer arranges the frame structure based on the transmission rate,
modulation and correction modes adopted and types of complementary
information needed, therefore, the radio frame structure of equipment
manufactured by different manufacturers are different. Following figure shows
the frame structure of equipment using multi-level coded modulation (MLCM)
Figure 1.7 Radio frame overhead of equipment using MLCM
RFCOH: radio frame complementary overhead

MLCM: multi-level coded modulation
DMY: Dummy
WS: wayside services
XPIC: cross polarization interference counteract
RSC: radio service

INI: N:1 switch instruction
ID: Idientificaiton
FA: Frame synchronization
ATPC: automatic transmitter power control

Total rate of the supervision bit that is added for multi-level code is 11.84 Mb/s.
The WS is 30 PCM telephone channels and the nominal rate is 2.048 Mb/s. To
use the same clock as the main data system, before the radio frame
multiplexing, use positive justification to adjust the nominal rate to 2.24 Mb/s,
and then enter it to the microwave multiplexing circuit. There are total 13
channels of RSC and control signals, each channel is 64 kb/s, total rate is 832
kb/s. Convert the rate to be 864 kb/s and enter it to microwave multiplexing
circuit. The 13 channels include two user channels which can transmit voice or
data signals, the other channels are auxiliary switching signal: four channels are
used in main channel service switching information and other six channels are
system monitor channels. ID is used to separate different microwave channels.
Figure 1.8 Microwave frame when MLCM is used
The frame structure of SDH is a block by byte and it has specific alignment.
Microwave frame is different from others for it is by bit and its alignment is
determined based on specific applications and without any order.
I indicates information bit, C1 and C2 indicate correction coding supervision bit
of first level and second level. FS indicates frame synchronization bit, “a” and
“b” indicate other complementary overhead bits.
Have a think:
What do you learn in this chapter?
1. What is the meaning of microwave?
2. What is digital microwave communication?
3. What are the challenges and opportunities for microwave
communication at the present?
4. How to arrange the microwave RF channels?
5. What is the basic model of microwave communication?
6. What are the modulations of microwave?

7. What is microwave frame like?
1.8 Conclusion
This chapter explains the concepts of microwave and digital microwave
communications, the development course and features of microwave
communication. It describes the current challenges and opportunities for
microwave communications, introduces the arrangements of microwave RF
channels and microwave modulations, and explains the microwave frame
structure.
Chapter 2 Introduction to Digital Microwave

Equipment
Objectives:
To know the classification of microwave equipment
To understand roles, constituents and performance indexes of antenna and
feeder, outdoor unit (ODU) and indoor unit (IDU) of split microwave equipment
To learn split microwave equipment installation and antenna adjustment
To have an overall idea of microwave equipment
2.1 Digital Microwave Equipment Classification

Based on different classification methods, the digital microwave equipment can
be classified based on the following modes:
Table 2.1 Microwave equipment classification
Mode Digital microwave Analogue microwave

Multiplexing mode PDH SDH
STM-0
2–16E1
capacity STM-1
34M
2 x STM-1 Eliminated
All-indoor microwave
Structure Split microwave
All-outdoor microwave
Currently, common classification method is, based on structure, to classify the
microwave equipment into split microwave, all-indoor microwave and
all-outdoor microwave.
All-indoor microwave is commonly called big microwave. Its RF unit (RFU),
signal processing unit (SPU) and multiplexer reside indoor, only the antenna is

outdoor. It has a high transmission capacity and is suitable to backbone line

transmission, but its cost is high.
Figure 2.1 All-indoor microwave
All the units of all-outdoor microwave reside outdoor. All-outdoor microwave is

easy to install and saves equipment room space. For it is outdoor, it is easily
damaged.
Figure 2.2 All-outdoor microwave

Figure 2.3 Split microwave
Split microwave equipment consists of ODU and IDU. The antenna and ODU
are connected by waveguide pipe, and the IDU and ODU are connected by IF
cable. IF cable is used to transmit the IF service signals between IDU and ODU
and the IDU/ODU communication control signals and provides power to the
ODU. Split microwave equipment has a low capacity and is easy to install and
maintain and available in quickly building networks. It is the most widely used
microwave equipment for the present.
2.2 Microwave antenna and feeder
2.2.1 Microwave antenna
The antenna is used to directionally radiate the microwave power emitted by the
transmitter ODU and transmit the microwave power received to the receiver
ODU. Commonly used microwave antenna includes parabolic antenna and
cassegrain antenna. The diameter of the microwave antenna produced by
China is 0.3, 0.6, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0, 2.5, 3.2m, and that is imported from abroad is 0.3,
0.6, 1.2, 1.8, 2.4, 3.0m. There are many types of antennas. Antenna of different
diameters has different specifications for different frequencies. Ericsson
Mini-link has 46 types of antennas.
Figure2.4 Parabolic antenna Figure2.5 Cassegrain

antenna

N channels in the same frequency band can share the same antenna.
Figure2.6 same antenna shares N channels
In a radio-relay system, the requirements for the antenna are that the antenna
should be highly efficient, the sidelobe level should be low, cross-polarization
discrimination should be high, voltage standing wave ratio should be low and
the working frequency band should be wide. The main parameters of the
antenna are as follows:
(1) Antenna gain
Gain is a major parameter of the antenna. When the size of the antenna is
certain, the antenna gain directly reflects the efficiency of the antenna.
The gain is the ratio of the input power Pio of isotropic antenna to the input
power Pi of the surface antenna when the surface antenna and isotropic
antenna produce the same electric field at the same place.
Antenna gain of the microwave antenna is expressed by:
2
Pio ⎛ πD ⎞
G= =⎜ ⎟ ∗η
Pi ⎝ λ ⎠
In the formula, D is the diameter of the parabolic antenna, λ is the working

wavelength, η is a surface usability coefficient, which is decided by the
antenna processing accuracy and the active loss, normally, η ranges from
0.45 to 0.6. The gain given in the antenna indexes is the maximum radiation
direction (main lobe) gain and expressed by dB.
G (dB) =10logG=10log [(πD/λ) 2×η
(2) Half-power angle (3 dB beam width)
Deviate to the two sides from the main slobe, when the direction is deviated to
the point where the power decreases half, the point is called the half-power
point. And the separation angle between the two half-power points is half-power
angle.

Half-power angle is expressed by:
λ
θ 0.5 = (65 0 ~ 70 0 )
D
From this formula, you can see that, when the antenna diameter is certain, the
higher the working frequency is, the smaller the half-power angle is, and the
higher the power integration is. When the working frequency is certain, the
larger the antenna diameter is, the smaller the half-power angle is.
(3) Cross-polarization discrimination (XPD)
XPD is, for a radio wave transmitted with a given polarization, the ratio at the
reception point of the power received with the expected polarization to the
power received with the orthogonal polarization. The XPD should be high to
suppress the interference from the orthogonal polarization signal. High capacity
radio-relay system (SDH microwave system) widely uses co-channel orthogonal
polarization frequency multiplexing to improve communication capacity and
save frequencies and it has strict requirement for the XPD (such as the XPD
should be larger than 40 dB).
XPD=10lgPo/Px
In the formula,
“ p 0 ” is the receiving power to the normal polarization wave
“ p x ” is the receiving power to the abnormal polarization wave
In actual microwave circuit, due to multi-path propagation effect and rain, XPD
may degrade. For frequency band lower than 10 GHz, the main cause to XPD
degradation is multi-path effect. For the two orthogonal polarization signals
reach at different angles in communication, and the influence of the
geographical and meteorologic conditions on the two orthogonal polarizations
are not totally relevant, which cause the XPD to change in actual practice. Even
though there is no fading or there is up fading, the XPD is tested to be
distributed logarithmically and normally rather than a constant value.
(4) Antenna protection ratio
Antenna protection ratio is the attenuation of the antenna reception capability in

some direction to the antenna reception capability in the main lobe direction. For
protection ratio of 180°, it is also called front/rear ratio. Antenna protection ratio
is an import index in the microwave communication.
(5) Voltage standing wave ratio

The connecting impedance between the antenna and the feeder should be
matched and the voltage standing wave ratio at the input must be smaller. The
standing wave ratio of normal antenna is between 1.05 and 1.2.
2.2.2 Classification of Microwave Antennas
Based on installation method, microwave antenna can be classified as hanging

antenna and seating antenna.
Based on electric feature, it can be classified as standard antenna and

high-performance antenna.
The front and rear of the high-performance antenna is larger than that of the
standard antenna with more than 10 dB.
2.2.3 Feeder System
Feeder system consists of the feeder connecting branching system to antennas

and the waveguide components, and it has several installation methods.
Currently, elliptical waveguide is commonly used.
(a) Elliptical waveguide (b) Flexible twist waveguide
Figure 2.7 Typical feeders
Elliptical waveguide has lower loss in certain length and is suitable for long
feeders. Normally, it is used in frequency band from 2 to 11GHz and it is the
most typical microwave feeder. Now, elliptical waveguide is widely used in
frequency band ranging from 4 GHz to 15 GHz as the feeder for it makes the
layout and installation of the feeders easier. The entire feeder system includes
elliptical waveguide, elliptical-rectangular converter, sealing section and air-filled
waveguide section. To protect feeder, the feeder must be charged with dry gas.
In installing the elliptical waveguide, you must follow the product specification;
otherwise, the standing wave ratio of the feeder might be affected.

Flexible twist waveguide is used to connect the ODU and the antenna. It is easy
to install and can ensure the connection accuracy, and it has function of twisting.
The disadvantage of the flexible twist waveguide is huge loss.
Coaxial cable has huge loss in certain length. It is better to use the coaxial cable
in occasion that the antenna is near the transceiver. Normally, it is used in the
frequency band lower than 2 GHz. currently, it is seldom used.
There are two ways of connecting elliptical waveguide and branching system:
a) Waveguide: using hard waveguide, E bend and H bend or flexible

waveguide.
b) Coaxial: using coaxial cable
In addition, the access layer typically uses portable PDH and SDH microwave
systems and adopts indoor/outdoor structure. The indoor unit and the outdoor
unit (transceiver) are connected by IF cable. Outdoor unit and antenna are
connected by flange interface (the feeder loss is reduced) or flexible waveguide
of 0.6–0.9 m (the caliber is more than 1.2 m).
Following figures show how the PDH/SDH microwave antenna is connected to

the ODU (transceiver):
Figure 2.8 Antenna connected to ODU
2.2.4 Branching System
Normally, in microwave communication, many channels share the same set of

an antenna and feeder system, which needs branching system to separate
them. The branching system consists of circulator, branching filter, terminator
and connection waveguide. The filter is installed in the rack.

Branching filter consists of bandpass filter, it only allow designed certain

frequency band to pass and the frequencies that outside the band cannot pass
the filter. The terminator is used to absorb the emitting waves, and the loop
makes the signals progress in a certain direction.
2.3 Outdoor unit (ODU)

ODU is used to convert IF and RF signals, process and amplify the RF signals.
Specification of the ODU is related to the RF frequency and independent of the
transmission capacity. For an ODU cannot cover a frequency band, normally, a
frequency band can be subdivided into three sub-bands: A, B and C. Different
sub-band matches different ODU. Different receiving/transmitting spacing also
matches different ODU and different higher-lower station matches different ODU.
Therefore, ODU types= quantity of the frequency band × quantity of
receiving/transmitting spacing × quantity of sub-band ×2 (for different
manufacturers, different ODU with different capacities may have different types).
Currently, ODU has many types but small batches. Small manufacturers
produce ODU and larger manufacturers integrate ODU. For specific functional
module structure inside ODU, see the following table.
Figure2.9 inner structure of ODU
In Figure 2.9, ODU consists of transmitter and receiver which achieve the
conversion from IF to RF and RF to IF respectively.

2.3.1 Constituents of Digital Microwave Transmitter and Major Performance

Indexes
I. Functions and constituents of transmitter
Main functions of transmitter are as follows:
(1) Generate proper local oscillation (LO) within the RF band.
(2) Use the local oscillation signal from the local oscillator to convert the
adjusted IF signal from the adjuster to the required frequency in
transmitting.
(3) Achieve pre-distortion of IF and RF of signals to compensate the

non-linearity of RF amplifier.
(4) Achieve amplification of linear RF
(5) Conduct RF filter to eliminate useless frequencies (harmonic mirroring

frequency, local oscillator leakage, stray outcome) to keep the frequency
spectrum within required frame. In the branching system, the local carrier is
combined with other carriers together and sent to the antenna.
Following is the system frame of a typical microwave transmitter
IF amplifier transmitting mixing

filter
microwave power
output power
branching
frequency amplifier filter
amplifier
varactor frequency
modulation
Orderwire
varactor frequency
signal
modulation
Figure2.10 system frame of receiver
After being amplified by the IF amplifier of the transmitter, IF adjusted signal

from the adjuster is transmitted to the transmitting frequency mixer, and after
transmitting mixing frequency, adjusted IF signal is converted to a frequency of
the RF band. To suppress local oscillator leakage and stray outcome,
equalization frequency mixer is preferred in use. Unilateral filter obtains a
sideband after frequency mixing. Microwave power amplifier is used to amplify
the signals with weak level (-30 dBm to -50 dBm) output by the transmitting
frequency mixer to the required level. Typical RF power amplifier is GaAs FET
device. For the SDH microwave system normally uses high-status modulation
mode, it has strict requirement for the linearity of the amplifier. Typical amplifier
works at output power far lower than the compression point of 1 dB, that is,
backoff measures should be taken. But if the backoff quantity increases, the
cost of the amplifier increases, therefore, pre-distortion is adopted to
compensate the residual non-linearity. In normal transmission conditions, ATPC
is used to low the output power, and then the power is amplified to the required
transmitting power by microwave power amplifier, later, the power is transmitted
to branching system, antenna and feeder by the sub-channel filter. RSC is
transmitted by multiplexing modulation.
II. Major Performance Indexes of the Transmitter
(1) Working Frequency Band
Currently, the working frequency bands mainly used in China backbone

microwave system are 4 and 6 GHz. Frequency bands 7, 8 and 11 GHz are
mainly used in branch lines. Frequency bands higher than 13 GHz are mainly
used in access layer such as station access.
(2) Output power
Output power refers to the power at the output port of the transmitter, ranging
from 15 to 30 dBm.
(3) Frequency stability
Each channel of the transmitter has nominal RF center working frequency. The
stability of the working frequency depends on the frequency stability of the
transmitting local oscillator. If the working frequency of the transmitter is
unstable, and there is offset, the amplitude of the effective signal demodulated
may decrease, and bit error rate may increase. Currently, the local oscillator
frequency stability of the microwave equipment is normally about 3–10 ppm.
(4) Transmitting frequency spectrum frame
Spectrum of signal transmitted must comply with certain limitations to prevent

over-wide bandwidth from being occupied, and then over-high interference may
be produced to the adjacent channels. The limitation range of the spectrum is
called frequency frame.

2.3.2 Constituents and Major Indexes of Receiver
I. 2.3.2.1 Constituents of Receiver
The theory of receiver is: to use low-noise amplifier to amplify the RF signal
from the antenna and convert RF frequency as follows before the demodulation.
The system frame is shown in Figure 2.11.
receiving
preset IF from
low-noise bandpass
frequency filter
the up
amplifying filter
amplifier mixing
antenna
Local
oscillator
IF inspection
major IF Automatic
equalization IF
controller (out)
amplifier
output composition shift
receiving
preset IF
low-noise bandpass
frequency filter
amplifying filter
amplifier mixing
Figure 2.11 System frame of receiver
Direct wave from the upper antenna and the lower antenna and the electric
wave that reaches the receiving point by means of all paths pass two same
channels: bandpass filter, low-noise amplifier, mirror-suppressing filter,
receiving frequency mixing, preset IF amplifier and then they are composed and
amplified by the IF amplifier and then the IF modulated signal is output.
In the receiver:
(1) Use LAN with low noise coefficient to pre-amplify the RF signals.
(2) Use local oscillator to convert the RF signals from the antenna via the
branching filter components to IF signals.
(3) Use variable gain amplifier to amplify the IF signals to maintain the level
unchanged when the propagation fading changes.
For most receivers, the gain is carried by the major IF amplifier, its variable gain
is used to compensate the RF signal fading caused by propagation. The reason
why IF amplifier is set with automatic gain control circuit is to make the level of
the signal that is transmitted to the modulator keep unchanged. The gain
change of amplifiers is achieved by many levels. The gain of those levels can
vary with proper controlling voltage, while the controlling voltage is the function
of the IF signal amplitude at the output end of the amplifier. In fact, part of input
signals is led out, detected by the diode, filtered by AGC filter (this filter can
prevent signals outside the usable spectrum from affecting the total frequency
response of the amplifier), after being amplified, it is used as controlling voltage
of the variable gain section. This method is to extract some signals from the
feedback path and the middle layer to control the variable gain and then to
make the IF output level unchanged.
(4) IF channel filter
II. 2.3.2.2 Major Performance Indexes of the Receiver
(1) Working frequency
Receiver and the transmitter cooperate in work. For a regenerator section, the
transmitting frequency of the former microwave station is the receiving
frequency of the same channel of the local receiver, and use of the frequency
band is the same as that of the transmitter.
(2) Frequency stability of the receiving oscillator
Requirement for the frequency stability of the receiving oscillator is consistent

with that of the transmitter. Normally, it is 3–10 ppm.
(3) Noise coefficient
The noise coefficient of digital microwave receiver is normally 2.5–5 dB, and it is
5 dB less than that of the analogue receiver.
(4) Passband
To effectively suppress the interference, obtain the best signal transmission,

choose suitable passband and the amplitude feature of the passband. The
passband feature of receiver depends on IF filter and the passband of normal
digital microwave equipment can be 1–2 times of transmission code element
rate.
(5) Selectivity

To ensure that the receiver only accepts signals of local channel, the receiver
should be able to suppress the interference of other signals outside the
passband, especially to suppress the interference of the adjacent channels,
mirroring interference, and interference between receiving and transmitting of
the receiver.
(6) Automatic gain control range
On the basis of the received level under free space transmission, when the
received level is higher than the reference level, it is called upward fading, and
when it is lower than the reference level, it is called downward fading. Supposed
the upward fading of the digital microwave system is +5 dB and the downward
fading is -40 dB, that is, the fading has a dynamic range of 45 dB. The
requirement for automatic gain control is when the received level undergoes
variation within this range; the rating output level of the receiver does not
change.
2.4 Indoor Unit

IDU performs the functions of service access, service scheduling, multiplexing
and modulation and demodulation. It is the major part of a microwave system. If
an IF board is equal to the line board of optical network equipment, IDU is
similar to the box-shape equipment of optical network. It has service boards
(SDE, SD1, SLE, SL1, PH1 and PO1), cross-connect board (PXC) and SCC.
The structure of IDU internal function modules is shown in figure 2.12.
Figure2.12 IDU internal structure

2.5 Installation and Adjustment of Split Microwave System

Split microwave system can be divided into two parts: outdoor installation and
indoor installation. Indoor installation is similar to that of box-shape equipment.
This section describes outdoor installation which mainly consists of antenna and
ODU installation. There are two methods of outdoor installation: integrated
mounting and separate mounting. Integrated mounting does not need feeder,
and it directly connects ODU to the antenna. Separate mounting uses feeder to
connect ODU to the antenna. See figure 2.13.
Figure 2.13 Outdoor installation
When the antenna is mounted, the key process is to adjust the directional angle
of the antenna.
Figure 2.14 Antenna side view and top view

In the process of adjusting the antenna, you may find voltage wave in figure
2.15, under this condition, the point of the maximum voltage is the main lobe
position of the pitching or horizontal direction. Then you need not adjust this
direction within great extent, and you only need slightly adjust the antenna to
the point where the voltage is highest. The method of adjusting the pitching
direction of the antenna is same as that of adjusting horizontal direction. When
the antenna is not accurately adjusted, you can only test lower voltage in a
direction. Then, you need briefly adjust antennas of the two ends and make
them leveled.
In the process of adjusting the antenna, if you find the received signal indicates
the point of maximum voltage, that position is the main lobe position of pitching
or horizontal direction. . Then you need not adjust this direction within great
extent, and you only need slightly adjust the antenna to the point where the
voltage is highest. The method of adjusting the pitching direction of the antenna
is same as that of adjusting horizontal direction. When the antenna is not
accurately adjusted, you can only test lower voltage in a direction. Then, you
need briefly adjust antennas of the two ends and make them roughly leveled
and then adjust them carefully. Typical errors occur in the process of antenna
adjusting is shown in figure 2.16, that is, the antenna is adjusted to the side lobe,
which makes the received signal level falling short of the design indexes.
Tips:
When antenna at two ends are leveled, they may become sligtly upward and
1–2 dB is wasted to prevent refraction interference.

Figure 2.15 Voltage wave in adjusting antenna Figure 2.16 Typical errors in adjusting antenna
Have a think:
(1) The classification of microwave equipment
(2) Antenna and feeder system and branching system of split microwave system
(3) ODU constituents, functions and performance indexes of split microwave
system
(4) IDU constituents of split microwave system
(5) Installation and adjustment of split microwave system
2.6 Conclusion
This chapter mainly describes digital microwave equipment, and attaches great
importance to explaining functions of each components, antenna and feeder
system, constituents and performance indexes of ODU and IDU, split
microwave system and antenna adjustment.
Chapter 3 Microwave System Networking and

Application
Objectives:
To know the typical networking modes of microwave system
To understand all types of stations of microwave system
To learn classification of relay station
To learn microwave application
3.1 Microwave System Typical Networking Modes and

Station Types
3.1.1 Typical Networking Modes
Microwave network is similar to the optical network in terms of structure. The

basic structure is shown in figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1 Microwave typical networking mode
3.1.2 Microwave Station Types
Based on station types, the microwave station can be classified as:
Terminal station: stations located at two ends of the microwave link, the
communication is unidirectional and voice channels need to be added/dropped.
Relay station: stations in the middle of any two stations of a microwave link, the
communication is to directions and the voice channels can be added/dropped
(baseband transfer) or cannot be added/dropped (IF or RF transfer).
Pivotal station: the station located in the middle of the microwave link, the
communication is to more than three directions, and voice channels need to be
added/dropped.
Based on communication frequency, stations can be classified as:
Upper station: station where the receiving frequency is higher than transmitting
frequency.
Lower station: station where the receiving frequency is lower than transmitting
frequency.
Obviously, due to microwave frequency configuration, upper and lower stations

are arranged alternatively. See figure 3.2.

Figure3.2 microwave station types
3.2 Relay Station

Microwave frequency band has higher frequencies. The microwave beam is
transmitted along a straight line and it is incapable of diffraction when it
encounters obstacles. Therefore, there should be no obstacles in the
line-of-sight range between two communication points. Otherwise, a microwave
relay station should be added at the obstacle point or other suitable place to
communicate the two communication points.
Microwave relay station can be classified into two types: passive relay station
and active relay station.
3.2.1 Passive Relay Station
Passive relay station is like a beam diverter, it makes the microwave beam
surpass the obstacle and form path. There are two models of passive relay
station: one model of station is formed by two back-to-back parabolic antennas
connected by a section of waveguide, the other is one or two metal planes
which is smooth to some extent, has proper available area, and a suitable angle
and distance for two communication points.

Figure3.3 Passive relay station
I. 3.2.1.1 Dual Parabolic Antennas Passive Relay Station
Figure3.4 Dual parabolic antennas passive relay station
(1) The received power can be expressed by:
PR=PT-L0
L0= L1+ L2+ L3+ L4+ L5- G1-G2-G3-G4

In the formula:
PT is transmitting power
L0 is line net loss, that is, the net loss between the transmitter and the receiver
From the formula, to increase the received power, the output power of the
transmitter and gains of the four microwave antennas should be increased and
feeder losses and the free space loss between two paths should be reduced.
(2) Methods to Increase PR
When the microwave equipment and the model are selected, the output power
of microwave transmitter and the sensitivity of the receiver are fixed. When
relative location of the transmitting antenna and the transmitter and that of the
receiving antenna and the receiver are fixed, the feeder loss L1 and L5 are
constant. Therefore, to improve the received power, you can only increase the
gains of the four parabolic antennas, reduce the free space loss and make the
two parabolic antennas closer to reduce the feeder loss L3.
(3) Parabolic antenna gain
Parabolic antenna gain can be expressed by:
G=20lgD+20lgF+17.8
In the formula:
D: diameter of the caliber of the parabolic antenna (m)

F: working frequency (GHZ)
G: antenna gain (dB)
Normally, passive relay station uses large diameter parabolic antenna. But if the
caliber diameter of the parabolic antenna is enlarged unrestrained, the passive
relay station may cost a lot and be difficult to install and erect. At the same time,
the half-power angle of the parabolic antenna beam may be small, the antenna
installation may become complicated and the adjustment of the antenna may be
not accurate (for the half-power angle of parabolic antenna beam is in reverse
proportion to the diameter of the parabolic antenna). Therefore, ground
microwave passive relay station is improper to use parabolic antenna with too
large diameter.
For passive relay station, fading margin is not large and there are four antennas,
the gain maybe quadrupled to affect the received power.
(4) Free space loss

Free space loss of the path can be expressed by:
L=92.4+20lgD+20lgF
In the formula:
L: free space loss (dB)

F: working frequency (GHZ)
G: antenna gain (dB)
For communication line that has passive relay station, the total free space loss
is the sum of the free space loss from the passive relay station to the two
communication points, that is, L=L2+L4. This means that the total free space loss
of the passive relay station is related to the relative position of the passive relay
station to the two communication points. Therefore, to improve the efficiency of
the passive relay station, the distance between the passive relay station and
any of the two communication points should be narrowed if possible. The closer
the passive relay station next to the communication point, the less the L2 or L4 is.
The worst condition is that the passive relay station is located in the right middle
of the two communication points, because the free space loss is the maximum
in this condition.
II. 3.2.1.2 Plane antenna passive relay station
A metal plane that is smooth to some extent, has proper available area, and a
suitable angle and distance to two communication points, is also a microwave
passive relay station. The station uses the reflection function of the metal plane
to change the propagation direction of the microwave beam and round the
obstacle to achieve communication. The PR is calculated by the same formula
that is previously described in parabolic antenna passive relay station.
III. 3.2.1.3 Comparison between two passive relay stations: parabolic

antenna and plane antenna
1) Plane antenna is more efficient, for the gain of the antenna is used two
times in receiving and transmitting. This is a remarkable advantage of this
station.
2) Parabolic antenna passive relay station is easy to install and adjust; it

works in a more stable way. While the plane antenna passive relay station, due

to large reflection area, is of dozens of square meters, it is not easy to install

and adjust. When there is a strong wind, it may not work stably.
3) Parabolic antenna passive relay station is not limited by the separation

angle of the receiving and transmitting paths at the relay station, while the plane
antenna passive relay station is limited by this separation angle. When the angle
is more than 100°, two plane antennas are used, which makes field selection,
installation and adjustment more difficult.
4) Parabolic antenna passive relay station can use polarization selector to

convert the horizontal and vertical polarization waves transmitted from the
previous station at the relay station, to reduce the fading caused by propagation
condition change. Especially when the passive relay station is located on the
straight line of the path, polarization conversion can reduce multi-path fading of
the path.
5) Based on requirement of transmitting signals and suitable terrain condition,

three parabolic antennas passive relay station can be built. While the plane
antenna passive relay station cannot achieve this.
6) In view of the cost, dual parabolic antennas passive relay station cost less
than the plane antenna passive relay station, especially much less than dual
plane antennas passive relay station. Dual plane antennas passive relay station
has strict requirements for the site location, if it is adopted, the wind loading
should be considered, and then investment needs to be increased to ensure
stable work of the dual plane antennas passive relay station.
3.2.2 Active Relay Station
There are two types of microwave active relay station: RF direct station and
regenerative relay station.
I. 3.2.2.1 RF Direct Station
RF direct station is an active, bidirectional, non-frequency-shift RF relay system.

For it amplifies signals directly on the RF, it is called RF direct station. It can be
used as a relay station that needs not add/drop voice channels in the
microwave system. It can be used to solve the block problem caused by

mountains and large building, and it can also be inserted in the newly built and
already established microwave to increase fading margin.
RF direct station is highly applicable due to following characteristics:
(1) It has large gains and good transmission performance.
(2) It has high reliability and can cooperate with the terminal equipment of any
manufacturers.
(3) It adopts many types of energy to supply power, such as DC, AC, solar
energy, wind and heat.
(4) It needs low cost and is flexible in choosing sites. Normally, RF direct
station is installed in the outdoor stormproof box and is attached to iron tower
next to the antenna to narrow the feeder line. For RF direct station, equipment
room, power line and railway are unnecessary. Its total cost is 50%-80% less
than that of the regenerative relay station. In addition, when selecting the site,
you only need to consider the optimal position for transmission without worrying
about factors such as transport, power supply and so on.
(5) It is easy to install and maintain, and expansion and frequency conversion
of the RF direct station is very simple.
II. 3.2.2.1 Regenerative Relay Station
Regenerative relay station is a high-frequency repeater with high performance.

Regenerative relay station is similar to back-to-back terminal station, including
an entire set of RF unit with regenerative microwave signals. It can extend the
signal transmission path and change transmission direction to round obstacles,
but it is incapable of adding/dropping voice channels. It can be used to break
the distance limit of microwave transmission system or divert the transmission
direction to round line-of-sight obstacles, and the signal quality is not degraded.
It receives signals, fully regenerates and amplifies the signals and then
transmits the signals.
3.3 Digital Microwave Application

Microwave system is mainly used in the following scenarios:

Mobile base station return transmission: after field mobile base station receives
radio signals, the signals need to be returned to BSC to enter into the core
network for transmission, and this process is called “mobile base station return
transmission”.
Supplementary network of optical network: due to geographical condition and

other reasons, it is difficult to lay fiber cables between optical network and BSC,
and then microwave transmission is needed.
Critical link backup: between two major transmission sites, to reduce the impact
on the transmission to the minimum when the fiber cables are broken,
microwave transmission is used as a backup for the optical transmission.
Enterprise private network: due to limitations of some special industries, such as

oil transport pipe or the relay of the TV signals in the field, fiber cables cannot be
laid due to certain limitations, and then microwave transmission is adopted.
VIP customer access: due to cost limitation, between the HQ of large

enterprises and their subsidiaries, fiber cables cannot be laid in wide area, and
then microwave transmission is adopted.
Currently, microwave system is frequently used in mobile base station return

transmission. In the networking of wideband radio access, the topology
structure should be chosen based on actual requirements. Topology structure
on the basis of PMP is traditional and frequently used, and the network model
can be ring network which is similar to the optical ring network. Topology
structure based on TDM/IP is original and effective. The two structures both
have their advantages and have different application environments; they can
supplement each other. Microwave ring network topology structure is also called
consecutive point topology structure.
Have a think:
(1) Network structures of digital microwave systems
(2) Models of digital microwave stations
(3) Characterstics of relay stations
(4) Application of digital microwave systems
You should pay more attention to the characterstics of relay stations.

3.4 Conclusion
This chapter mainly describes typical networking modes of microwave systems,
models of microwave stations and characteristics of relay stations, and the
application of the digital microwave systems.
Chapter 4 Microwave Propagation Theory

　Objectives:
To understand microwave propagation in free space
To know the influence of ground reflection and troposphere on the electric wave
propagation
To learn the fadings caused by aerial and ground effect
To understand the impact caused by fadings and statistic features of fadings
Microwave communication is based on the carrier of microwave and realized by
line-of-sight communication in the atmosphere. The major theory foundation of
microwave communication is electromagnetic propagation, which includes:
Huygens-Fresnel theory, concepts of Fresnel zone, interference and
polarization of electric waves, co-oscillation and absorption of materials. We
should learn all those theories first to futher study microwave communication.
4.1 Electric Wave Propagation in Free Space
4.1.1 Free Space
Free space is also called ideal medium space, it equals to the ideal space in
vacuum status. This space is full of homogeneous and ideal medium, for this
medium, the conductance σ=0, dielectric constant ε=ε0=10-9/36π F/m and
magnetic capacity μ=μ0=4π×10-7 H/m. in this space, electric waves are not
affected by factors such as obstacles, reflection, diffraction, scattering and
absorption.
4.1.2 Propagation Loss of Electric Waves in Free Space
For magnetic wave that propagates in free space, reflection, diffraction,

absorption and scattering do not occur. That is, the total energy is not lost. But
when electric wave propagates in free space, it is attenuated for energy is
diffused to the space, likes a single bulb lighting in the air, the light is
homogeneously spreading around, and the place that is far away from the bulb

obviously is of less energy. The diffusion loss of electric wave is called free
space loss. Based on the energy-flux density and antenna theory, the
propagation loss of electric wave in free space is expressed by:
LS=Pt / Pr =(4πdf/c) 2
Or LS (dB) =20log(4πdf/c)
In the formula:
LS: free space loss (dB)
d: distance from the emitting source of electric wave to the receiving point (m)
f: working frequency of electric wave (Hz)
c: speed of light 3 ×108 (m/s)
If the unit of d is km and that of f is GHz, the formula can be:
LS (dB) =92.4+20log d+20logf
4.2 Influence of Ground Reflection on the Electric Wave

Propagation
Due to different terrain conditions, different relay sections have different
influence on electric wave. Major influences are reflection, diffraction and
ground scattering. For the ground scattering has little influence on the main
waves, it can be ignored. The influence of reflection is that the ground can
reflect some of the signals from the antenna to the receiving antenna (water
surface and smooth ground have strong influence of reflection), which interferes
the direct waves, and at the receiving point, vector of these signals is added to
the vector of the direct waves, as a result, the receiving level sometimes is more
than the receiving level of the free space and sometimes is less that the
receiving level of the free space.
4.2.1 Concept of Fresnel Zone
I. Huygens-Fresnel Principle
Huygens formulates electro-magnetic wave character theory, based on

Huygens’ theory, Fresnel formulate the concept of Fresnel zone which further
explains the reflection and diffraction of electric waves and is proved in practice.
The basic idea of Huygens principle is: light and electric-magnetic wave are
both a kind of oscillation, the medium around them are flexible, and therefore,
the oscillation of a point can be transmitted to the adjacent particle and spread
around, and then it becomes the wave that is transmitted in the medium.

Therefore, it can be considered that the oscillation of a point source is

transmitted to the adjacent particles and forms secondary wave source and then
tertiary wave source and so on. If the wave transmitted by the point source is
spherical wave, then the wave before the secondary wave formed by the point
source is spherical wave and that before the tertiary wave is also spherical
wave, and the other is by analogy. In microwave communication, when the size
of transmitting antenna is less than the microwave relay distance, the
transmitting antenna can be considered to be a point source.
II. 4.2.1.2 Fresnel Ellipsoid
Supposed, for a microwave relay section, the transmitting point is T and the
receiving point is R and the distance between stations is d, if on a flat surface,
the distance from a moving point P to two fixed points (T and R) is a constant,
the track of this point is an ellipse. And in the space, the track of this point is a
rotary ellipsoid. In electric wave propagation, when the constant is d+λ/2, the
ellipsoid obtained is called first Fresnel ellipsoid, and when the constant is
d+2λ/2, the ellipsoid obtained is called second Fresnel ellipsoid..., when the
constant is d+Nλ/2, the ellipsoid obtained is called Number N Fresnel ellipsoid.
III. 4.2.1.3 Fresnel Zone
If the Fresnel ellipsoid intersect with the waves transmitted from T or R, on the
intersect interface, a series of circles and rings can be obtained and the center
is a circle which is called the first Fresnel zone, the annulus (external circle
minus internal circle) next to the first Fresnel zone is called second Fresnel
zone and others by analogy. These rings and circles can be approximately
considered as plane area graphics that are vertical to the ground and the ray
between T and R. In practice, the influence of Fresnel zone on the project can
be ignored.
IV. 4.2.1.4 Fresnel Zone Diameter
The distance from any point on the Fresnel zone to the link between R and T is
called Fresnel diameter and is represented by F. when the point is on the first
Fresnel zone, the diameter is called the first Fresnel zone diameter.
Figure4.1 First Fresnel zone diameter
Based on definitions of Fresnel ellipsoid and Fresnel zone, the first, second…
and number N Fresnel zone diameter can be approximately expressed by:
F2= (2λd1d2/d) 1/2 = (2)1/2 F1

F1= (λd1d2/d) 1/2
...
Fn= (nλd1d2/d) 1/2 = (n)1/2 F1
In the formula:
The meanings of F1, λ, d1, d2, d are as previously explained, and unit of F1, λ is
m and the unit of d1, d2, d is km.
V. 4.2.1.5 Relationship between Field strength of Receiving Point and

Energy of Each Fresnel Zone
Based on analysis, phases of field strength produced by adjacent Fresnel zones

in the receiving point R are opposite. That is, the field strength produced by the
second Fresnel zone is opposite to that produced by the first Fresnel, and the
field strength produced by the third Fresnel zone is opposite to that produced by
the second Fresnel.
Take the first Fresnel zone as a reference, the field strength produced by the
zone with odd number makes the field strength of the receiving point
strengthened, and that produced in by the zone with even number makes the
field strength weakened. Field strength of the receiving point is sum of the
vectors of the field strength of each Fresnel zone at the receiving point. In
practice, for the slant of each Fresnel zone to the receiving point is different,
thus Fresnel zones interfere with each other. The result of the vectors
overlapped together is: the field strength of the receiving point which is obtained
from all the Fresnel zones in the free space is approximately equal to the field
strength produced by the first Fresnel zone at this point in the space.
4.2.2 Influence of Ground Reflection on Receiving Level
To make explanation more simple and easy to understand, the convex of the
earth is ignored, that is, distance between stations is considered to be short and
the ground is with little fluctuation.
I. Clearance
Actual microwave propagation may be blocked by buildings, trees and

mountains. If obstacles are high enough to enter the first Fresnel zone,
additional loss is caused and the receiving level decreases, and then the
transmission quality is affected. To avoid the phenomenon, the clearance is
introduced.
The vertical distance from the obstacle to line section AB is called clearance of
the obstacle in the path, and line section hc that is vertical to the ground is used
to indicate the clearance, see figure 4.2. If the first Fresnel diameter of this point
is F1, hc/F1 is the relative clearance of this point.

Figure4.2 Definition of clearance—schematic
II. Loss caused by Knife-edge Obstacles on the Path
In actual microwave project, knife-edge obstacles always block the transmission

path. The knife-edge obstacles cannot block all the Fresnel zones, at the
receiving point, there is only partial Fresnel zone energy is diffracted and make
the receiving point have somewhat level. The level must be lower than that in
the free space. Loss caused by the knife-edge obstacles is called additional loss.
When the peak of the obstacle just falls down on the link between the
transmitting and receiving points, that is, H C=0, the additional loss is 6 dB.
When the peak of the obstacle surpasses the link between the two points, the
additional loss may rapidly increase. When the peak of the obstacle is below the
link between the two points, additional loss may vary slightly around 0 dB, at this
time, the transmission loss (or receiving level) on the path is close to that of the
free space.

Figure4.3 Loss caused by knife-edge obstacle
III. Reflection of Flat Terrain to Electric Waves
Flat terrain indicates that the earth curvature is not considered and the terrain
between two points is considered to be flat. In actual microwave communication
project lines, the receiving and transmitting antennas are leveled to make the
receive end receive stronger direct waves. But based on the Huygens theory,
some electric waves are always sent to the ground, therefore, at the receiving
point, besides the direct waves, there are reflected waves reflected by the
ground and meeting the reflection conditions (angle of arrival equals to angle of
reflection). We can use the following geometrical relationship to deduce the
expression of virtual value of the composite field strength.
If: transient value of field strength of direct wave is expressed by:
e1=21/2 E0cosωt
Transient value of field strength of reflected wave is expressed by:
e2=21/2 E0Φcos (ωt-ψ-2π (r2-r1) /2)
In the two formulas:

e1, e2 are the transient values of field strength of direct wave and reflected wave
respectively.
E0 is the effective wave of the field strength of waves propagates in free space.
Φ is the modulus of reflectance.
ψ is the phase angle of reflectance (when the angle of arrival formed by the
incoming wave and the ground are small, ψ is close to 180°)
r2-r1 is the progressive error of the field strength of reflected wave and the direct
wave.
Bu deduction, the effective value of composite field strength is:
E=(E02+E02Φ2+2 E02ΦCOS (ψ+2π (r2-r1) /λ) ) 1/2

=E0 (1+Φ2–2ΦCOS (ψ+2π (r2-r1) /λ) ) 1/2
The ratio of composite field strength E to the field strength of free space is called
fading factor V when the ground influence is considered. The V is expressed by:
V=E/E0
= (1+Φ2–2ΦCOS (ψ+2π (r2-r1) /λ) ) 1/2
Expressed in dB:
V dB=20logV
When the ground influence is considered, the actual receiving level is:
PR (dBm) =PR0 (dBm) +V dB
Figure4.4 Influence of terrain on electric waves

IV. Using Fresnel zone concept to analyze the influence of ground

reflection
When section distance d is longer than antenna height (h1 and h2), the
progressive error of direct wave and ground reflection wave can be
approximately expressed by:
△r=λ (Hc/F1) 2/2
When θ in figure4.3 is very small (that is, ψ is close to 180°), following

expression can be obtained
V= [1+Φ2+2ΦCOS (π (hc/F1) 2]1/2
This expression indicates the quantitative relationship between fading factor V

and relative clearance hc/F1. In engineering, curve indicating the relationship
between V and hc/F1 is made to simplify the calculation of the additional loss
caused by ground reflection.
Φ is related to ground conditions, see figure4.5.
Figure4.5 Relation between VdB and hc/F1
In the figure, “reflection loss” indicates that compared with incoming wave, the
level that reflected wave attenuates; it is equal to 20LOG and different from the
fading factor in terms of concept.
In figure4.5:
If Φ=1, the ground influence is considered, when the receiving level equals to
the level of free space for the first time, Hc/F1=0.577.

If Φ<1, when the receiving level equals to the level of free space for the first time,
Hc/F1=0.577
When Hc/F1=0.577, the clearance is called free space clearance which is
represented by H0.
It is expressed by:
H0=0.577F1= (λd1d2/d) 1/2
V. Classification of Microwave Lines
Normally, in the line-of-sight microwave communication, based on the clearance

hc of relay lines, the relay lines can be classified into three categories:
If hc≥h0, it is called open line
If 0<hc <h0, it is called half open line

If hc≤0, it is called closed line
Corresponding to the previous three conditions, the calculation method of fading
factor V is:
Open line: for rough calculation, refer to figure4.5
For knife-edge obstacles, refer to figure4.5.

For half-open and closed line s caused by large highlands, mountains, the
fading factor can be checked out in figure4.5 or calculated by diffraction
expression. Under condition of such lines, electric wave reaches the receiving
point in the way of diffraction. Based on relevant theory, approximate diffraction
expression can be obtained. There are three conditions:
A, when hc=h0=0.577F1, V=1, or VdB=0;
B, when hc=0, for knife-edge obstacles: VdB=-6dB;

For large-size obstacles: VdB <-6dB, based on expression C.
C, when hc <h0, VdB= V0dB (1-hc/h0)

In the formulas:
VdB is the fading factor when diffraction is considered.
h0 is free space clearance. h0=0.577F1

hc is clearance of the main ray of relay circuit (m)
V0dB is the level value of fading factor when the free space clearance is hc=0. It
is calculated by parameter μ that reflects the obstacle terrain.
μ=2.02[K(1-K)/L]2/3
In the formula:
K=d1/d
L is the link that parallel to the RT, draw tangent and secant lines over the
obstacles based on (λd) 1/2/2, the width of obstacles can be obtained.
For cross-section diagram of calculating terrain parameter μ, see figure 4.6.
Figure4.6 Curve of determining terrain parameter μ
The relation between V0dB and μ is shown in figure4.7.
Figure4.7 Curve indicating relation of V0dB and μ
4.3 Influence of Troposphere on Electric Wave

The most distinct influence of troposphere on the electric wave is the influence
of atmospheric refraction on the electric wave propagation.

4.3.1 Ray Bend in Atmosphere
The propagation speed of electric wave in the free space is:

υ=c=1/(μ0ε0)1/2 =3×108 (m/s)
In actual atmosphere, dielectric coefficient ε=ε0*ε’, μ=μ0, thus the velocity that
electric wave propagates in atmosphere is:
υ=1/(μ0ε0 ε’)1/2 = c/(ε’) 1/2

In the formula: ε’ is called relative dielectric coefficient.
Supposed the diffraction of atmosphere is n, it is the velocity that electric wave
propagates in the free space to the velocity that electric wave propagates in
atmosphere.
n=c/υ=(ε’)1/2
Indicated by reflection exponent N:
N= (n-1) × 106
In free space, N=0. On the surface of the ground, N=300. “n” is normally
between 1.0 and 1.00045.
In atmosphere, in different heights, influenced by different pressure,

temperature, and moisture, the atmosphere may vary. This variation is
expressed by dn/dh. See figure4.8.
Figure4.8 variation of electric wave track influenced by atmosphere
When dn/dh <0, n is in reverse ratio to h in variation, which makes electric

transmitting ray bend down.

4.3.2 Concept of Equivalent Earth Radius
To analyze influence on electric wave transmission, the concept of equivalent

radius is introduced. After the concept is introduced, the electric wave is always
considered to be a straight line and the actual radius of the earth is equivalent to
ae. Equivalent rule is that the clearance between the ray and the earth is
unchanged before and after the equivalence. See figure4.9.
Figure4.9 Conditions after and before the equivalence—schematic
K is defined as equivalent earth radius coefficient: K= ae/a

In the formula, a=6370 km
The relationship between K and the index of refraction is:
K=1/(1+a dn/dh)
K is a very important concept in microwave engineering, it must be considered.
4.3.3 Refraction can be classified into three categories based on the K value
(1) Non-refraction: dn/dh=0; and k=1 or a=a e

(2) Negative refraction: dn/dh >0; and k <1 or a>a e, the bending
direction of the electric wave ray is opposite to that of the earth
(3) Positive refraction: dn/dh < 0; and k > 1 or a <a e, the bending
direction of the electric wave ray is same as that of the earth
Based on a large amount of test result, the refracting index gradient is:
dn/dh=-1/4a
And then,
k=1/(1+a(-1/4a))=4/3
In temperate region, when K=4/3, the refraction is standard refraction, and the
atmosphere is called standard atmospheric pressure. ae=4a/3 is called standard
equivalent earth radius.

At equator, standard equivalent earth radius is ae= (4/3–3/2)a;
Figure4.10 Classification of refraction—schematic
In engineering calculation, China uses Kstandard=4/3, Knegative refraction=2/3. When

inter-station interference is considered, K= ∞, that is, influence of earth bulge on
the electric wave propagation is not considered.
4.3.4 The Meaning of K Value in Engineering Design
In engineering, to make clearance more economical and rational in use, you

should control the antenna height based on the following requirements.
(1) Φ≤0.5, that is, for circuits that have small earth reflectance, such as
mountains, cities, hilly grounds, to avoid over large diffraction,
control the antenna height based on the following standards.
When K=2/3, hc ≥ 0.3F1 (for general obstacles)
hc ≥ 0 (for knife-edge obstacles)
In this situation, diffraction fading produced is not more than 8 dB.
(2) Φ> 0.7, that is, for circuits that have large earth reflectance, such as
flat, water reticulation area, to avoid over large reflection fading,
control the antenna height based on the following standards.
When K=2/3, hc ≥ 0.3F1 (for general obstacles)
hc ≥ 0 (for knife-edge obstacles)
When K=4/3, hc ≈ F1

When K=∞, hc ≤1.35 F1 (for when the clearance is 21/2 F1, deep
fading may appear)
If those requirements cannot be met, change the antenna height or change the
route.
4.4 Fading caused by Several Atmospheric and Earth Effects

Microwave propagation must adopt direct wave and the field strengths of the
receiving point is overlap of the direct space wave and earth reflected wave.
Propagation medium is the low-altitude aerosphere and earth and objects in the
route. When the time (season, day and night) and weather (rain, fog and snow)
vary, atmospheric temperature, refraction and pressure, earth reflecting point
and reflectance also change. This causes the field strength of the receiving
point to change. The phenomenon is called electric wave propagation fading.
Obviously, fading is very random.
The degree of fading is indicated by fading factor and fading reason attributes
the earth and ground effect.
4.4.1 Fading Types
I. 4.4.1.1 Fast Fading and Slow Fading
Fading can be classified into slow fading and fast fading based on the duration.
Long-duration fading is called slow fading and the duration is from several
minutes to several hours. Short-duration fading is called slow fading and the
duration is from several seconds to several minutes. Slow fading varies slowly, it
is slowly formed and then slowly disappears, and it is always caused by
atmospheric refraction changing slowly in a wide area. For in a wide area (such
as a section of relay circuit), atmospheric refraction becomes bad and recovers
in a relatively long time, and then slow fading is formed. Fast fading is closely
related to multi-path propagation caused by thin layer in the atmospheric
waveguide and turbulent current. In the range of microwave, if the paths of each
ray in the previous multi-path propagation vary, the composite signals of the
rays at the receiving point may vary and then fast fading is formed.
II. 4.4.1.2 Upward Fading and Upward Fading
Fading can be classified based on the field strength of the receiving point. When
the received level is higher than the free space level, it is called upward fading,
and when it is lower than the free space level, it is called downward fading
III. 4.4.1.3 Blinking Fading and Multi-path Fading
In engineering, fading is always classified into blinking fading and multi-path

fading based on the physical causes of fading.
Blinking fading is mainly caused by local slight disturbance in atmosphere
resulting in electric wave beam scattering. Each scattering wave has small
amplitude and the phase varies along with the atmosphere. As a result, the
composite amplitude at the receiving point is very small and does affect the

main waves. Therefore, this fading seldom affects the stability of the
line-of-sight radio-relay circuits.
Multi-path is mainly caused by multi-path propagation, and it is the major cause
of the deep fading of line-of-sight propagation channels.
For both analogue microwave and digital microwave, multi-path propagation

objectively exists and affects microwave. But digital microwave is more sensitive
to multi-path propagation than analogue microwave. Multi-path propagation is
described in the following section.
Multi-path propagation is a kind of propagation phenomenon that when the
electric wave leaves transmitting antenna, it arrives at the receiving antenna
through more than two different paths. There are many reasons for multi-path
propagation, for example, on the path where there is earth reflection, in addition
to receiving the direct space wave from transmitting antenna, the receiving
antenna also receives reflected waves from the ground. In addition, under
certain weather conditions, there are various non-homogeneous objects in the
atmosphere. For example, atmospheric waveguide or reflection, refracted
waves received by receiving antenna, those are the causes of multi-path
propagation.
In multi-path propagation, electric wave is transmitted to the receiving point
along many paths. For non-homogeneous positions, interfaces and sizes are
random; there is phase variance between each electric wave caused by
progressive error, and the amplitude error caused by different reflection
conditions is also random. Therefore, the composite interference field at the
receiving point greatly changes, and this is multi-path fading. In the microwave
frequency band, for the wavelength is very short, the phase variance 2λπ
caused by progressive error changes greatly, thus multi-path fading is very
remarkable in this frequency band.
4.4.2 Influence of Troposphere on Electric Wave Propagation
From the ground, upwardly, atmosphere can be divided into six layers in order:
troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, and
exosphere. Troposphere is low-altitude atmosphere ranging from the ground to
10 kilometers higher upward. Microwave communication works in this layer.
Troposphere gathers 3/4 mass of the entire atmosphere. When the ground is
exposed to the sun, the ground temperature increases, and heat emitted from
the ground make the low-temperature atmosphere inflated, which causes the
atmospheric density non-homogeneous, and then convection current is formed,
thus this layer is called troposphere. The influence of troposphere on the electric
wave has following types:
I. 4.4.2.1 Atmosphere Absorption Loss
Molecule of any material is constituted by charged particles. Those particles

have constant electro-magnetic resonance frequency. When the microwave
frequency of these materials is close to their resonance frequency, those
materials absorb microwave resonantly. Oxygen molecule (O2) in the
atmosphere has magnetic-coupling polar and vapor (H2O) has electric-coupling
polar, they can absorb energy from electromagnetic waves and then absorption
loss is caused.

The maximum absorption peak of vapor is at λ = 1.3cm ( f = 22.2GHz ) , and

that of oxygen is at λ = 0.57cm( f = 57GHz ) .
Following figure shows the absorption loss of electromagnetic waves caused by
atmosphere.
Figure4.11 Absorption of vapor and oxygen
The curve in the figure shows, when the microwave frequency is 12 GHz
(wavelength is 2.5 cm), absorption loss of the atmosphere is about 0.02 dB/km.
if the microwave station distance is 50 km, the attenuation of a relay section is
1.0 dB. Therefore, when microwave frequency is less than 12 GHz, compared
with free space propagation loss, the absorption loss can be ignored.
II. 4.4.2.2 Scattering Loss Caused by Rain and Fog
Rain, fog and snow can absorb electric wave energy if the microwave
wavelength is under 5 cm (frequency is 6 GHz), when the wavelength is longer
than 5 cm, the absorption can be ignored. Generally, for frequency band is less
than 10 GHz, fading caused by rain and fog is not serious; normally the fading
between two stations is only several dB. For the frequency band is more than 10
GHz, distance between relay sections is limited by loss caused by rains, and it
cannot be too long. See figure4.11.
Sometimes, moisture cluster, such as mist, is formed in the atmosphere, this
non-homogeneous material can make the electric wave refracted, absorbed,
scattered and reflected, mainly refracted.

Figure4.12 scattering loss caused by rain and fog
III. 4.4.2.3 K Type Fading
It is an interference-type fading caused by multi-path transmission. This fading

is caused by mutual interference of the direct wave and ground reflected wave
(or diffracted wave under certain conditions) due to phase variance when the
two kinds of waves arrive at the receiving point. The interference is related to
progressive error. In troposphere, the progressive error varies with the K value;
therefore, this fading is called K types fading. This fading is very serious when
the transmission line crosses river, lake and smooth ground. Thus, in selecting
routes, try to avoid river, lake and smooth ground if possible, if not, use high-low
antenna technology to make the reflecting point more nearer to one end to
reduce the impact of reflected waves, or use high-low antenna technology plus
space diversity technology to reduce the impact of multi-path reflection.
IV. 4.4.2.4 Waveguide Fading
Due to influence of all kinds of weather conditions, such as the ground is heated
by the sun in the morning and become cold in the night, and in the
high-pressure area, non-homogeneous objects are formed. When electric
waves pass those non-homogeneous objects, super reflection phenomenon
occurs and atmospheric waveguide is formed. Under such circumstances, you
can deal with the waveguide fading only based on engineering experience.
4.4.3 Fading Rules (microwave frequency bands lower than 10 GHz)
Based on a large amount of test result, find fading of microwave frequency

bands lower than 10 GHz follows the following rules:
(1) The shorter the wavelength is, the longer the distance is, and the more
serious the fading is.

(2) Fading of propagation paths crossing rives and plains is more serious than
that of the paths crossing mountain areas.
(3) Fading occurs more frequently and is deeper in summer and autumn than
autumn and spring.
(4) The field strength of received signals is more stable in sunny days and
daytime than nights. When day and night shift, for example, from 05:00:00 to
09:00:00 in the morning, from 19:00:00 to 21:00:00 in the night, and from
00:00:00 to 03:00:00, deep fading frequently occurs.
(6) Signals received in rainy, foggy and windy days are more stable than in
sunny days. When the sun shines again after rain and fog scatters, fast fading
always occur.
4.5 Frequency Selective Fading
4.5.1 Multi-path Propagation of Electric Waves
I. 4.5.1.1Basic Concepts
From the previous chapters, it is learned that for a relay section, in addition to
receiving direct waves, the receiving point can also receive reflected waves
from some point of the path. Atmospheric effect makes the atmosphere produce
some random reflected waves and scattered waves that are independent of any
fixed reflecting surface. That is, the receiving point can receive electric waves
from many paths, this is multi-path propagation phenomenon.
Multi-path electric waves have random amplitude and phase at the receiving
point, and the level of the receiving point is the vector sum of mutual
interference of the waves, therefore, the receiving level produces multi-path
interfering fading along with this multi-path propagation phenomenon. This
phenomenon typically occurs in hot and humid summer, for example, in the
basin of the Yellow river, it frequently occurs in July, August and September.
This phenomenon is more apt to occur in plains and water reticulation areas
than mountain areas.
II. 4.5.1.2 Further Analysis on Multi-Path Propagation
Multi-path fading can be classified into level fading and frequency selective
fading.
Influence of level fading on digital microwave system is equivalent to receiving
level decrease. Therefore, adequate level fading margin can effectively improve
the level fading in multi-path fading channels. For level fading, its analysis
model can be indicated by the sum of a constant field strength vector and the
innumerable mutually independent random vector, and the modulus of this
vector sum is subject to Rayleigh distribution.
Influence of frequency selective fading on digital microwave system is
equivalent to signal-to-noise ratio decrease. Therefore, it is limited to enlarge
fading margin to improve system bit error performance. The analysis methods
normally use two-path model or simplified three-path model.

Multi-path propagation can be concluded to two types: one type of multi-path is

formed by direct waves and reflected waves, and the other type of multi-path is
formed by co-existing paths caused by low-atmosphere effect. Normally, the first
type is major and frequently occurs. And the second type is not typical and does
frequently occur. But when ground reflected wave is very weak even feeble,
influence of the second type becomes the major factor.
For multi-path interfering fading is produced by mutual interference of electric
waves of different paths, therefore, theoretically, fading model for research
should be based on several composite wave beams. However, fading caused
by mutual interference of more than three beams has lower probability of
making circuit quality bad; therefore, model for research of interfering fading is
normally based on two beams.
4.5.2 Influence of Frequency Selective Fading on Transmission Quality of

Microwave Communication Systems
I. 4.5.2.1 Causing In-Band Distortion
In-band distortion indicates that amplitude frequency feature and time delay
frequency feature of microwave signals (modulated waves) in the band are
linear, the A (f), T (f) features of each frequency spectrum of the signal vary
along with frequency, and this variation is called in-band distortion.
In-band distortion caused by frequency selective fading is related to
transmission bandwidth of signals, while bandwidth of signals is determined by
transmission capacity and modulation mode.
II. 4.5.2.2 Making Cross Polarization Discrimination Decrease
For microwave signal under a polarization status (such as horizontal

polarization), after being transmitted by the channel, due to the influence of the
atmosphere on the electric wave transmission, the polarization side may be
damaged and part of the energy may become orthogonal status (such as
vertical polarization) to the signals. Then, when co-frequency reutilization
scheme is adopted, interference between two channels of the same frequencies
and with polarization orthogonal may be caused, this is called cross polarization
interference (XPI).
XPI can be produced by the feature of antenna and feeder system at the
receiving and transmitting ends. But XPI exists in the form of background
interference (noise) and keeps unchanged. In the frequency band lower than 10
GHz, XPI is mainly caused by multi-path propagation.
Cross polarization discrimination (XPD) is normally represented by level value,
that is,
XPD=10lg(P/PX) (dB)
In the formula:
P is power of the signal received by some channel of receiving end and having
the same polarization with transmitting end.

PX is the XPI signal received by the channel.
If the XPD value is large, it indicates that energy is reduced when a polarization
status is changed to orthogonal polarization status via transmission.
For frequency bands 4 GHz and 6GHz, the XPD of antenna and feeder system
should be larger than 40 dB, but multi-path propagation might make the XPD
become bad remarkably.
III. 4.5.2.3 Making Original Fading Margin of the System Decrease
When the frequency selective fading is not considered or the narrowband

signals are transmitted in the system (frequency selective fading is ignored),
anti-fading capacity of the system is represented by flat fading margin.
Flat fading margin is: compared with free space propagation condition, when
thermal noise is increased (only thermal noise is considered), to make system
work under the condition that the threshold bit error rate is not exceeded, thus
adequate level margin must be reserved. For example, under the condition of
free space propagation, for a digital microwave communication system, the
receiving level is -35 dB, when the bit error rate is the threshold value Pe=10-3,
the receiving level is -80 dB and its flat fading margin is 45 dB.
When frequency selective fading is considered, that is, for high and medium
capacity digital microwave communication system, concept of flat fading is not
suitable. Because transport bandwidth of the digital microwave communication
system is relatively wide and the wider the bandwidth is, the more serious the
influence of frequency selective fading is, and then actual fading margin of the
system is less than flat fading margin. This is because when in-band distortion
is serious, sometimes the fading is not deep and the influence of thermal noise
is not remarkable, but the bit error rate may quickly increase and when it
exceeds threshold bit error rate, communication is interrupted.
Effective fading margin is always mentioned in digital microwave
communication, it is level margin that must be reserved o make the system still
work when the threshold bit error rate is not exceeded and frequency selective
fading is considered in comparison to free space propagation.
For high and medium capacity digital microwave communication system, when
flat fading margin is added, effective fading margin cannot be added (it is slowly
added) in proportion to the flat fading margin. That is, only by means of
increasing flat fading margin such as increasing transmitting power,
performance of digital microwave communication system cannot obtain
necessary improvement. You can adopt frequency diversity, space diversity and
automatic equilibrium technologies to improve the capability of the system in
terms of frequency selective fading.
4.6 Statistic Feature of Fading
4.6.1 Microwave Fading Model—Rayleigh Distribution Function
To understand the reliability of communications, you should understand

possibility distribution of fading depth and fading duration. Fading depth

provides interruption level in propagation and fading duration provides

interruption time.
Phase interference caused by multi-path transmission effect is the major cause
of microwave transmission line-of-sight deep fading. Fading model is described
by the sum of innumerable random vectors with independent phase. To analyze
fading features in different conditions, probability theory is adopted, and many
types of distribution functions that can indicate those features are cited. The
typical function is Rayleigh distribution function. The modulus of the vector sum
that can prove fading is subject to this general distribution. When the fading is
serious, coherent multi-path vector occupies large proportion, and constant field
strength is subordinated. In the Rayleigh distribution, the fading is fast and
deep.
Simply, Rayleigh distribution is the probability of a value that the receiving level
might be when there is fading. When the fading feature is subject to Rayleigh
distribution, the probability of the receiving level lower than a certain level is:
P(E)=1-e-(E2/Ee2)
In the formula:
2
E —the square of previously defined effective value of the field strength, it
corresponds to receiving power and sometimes it indicates the receiving power
related to threshold condition.
Ee2—the effective guide average value of the field strength. It corresponds to
average receiving power.
4.6.2 Engineering Calculation of Rayleigh Fading Probability
Use Rayleigh fading distribution rules in the microwave communication,

consider the condition of electric wave propagation, the probability of fading is:
Pr=KQfBdcW/ W0
In the formula:
Pr: Rayleigh fading probability, that is, not more than the probability of the
receiving power when there is fading.
K: factor of environment condition
Q: factor of geographical condition
F: working frequency of microwave (GHz)

B, C: constant factor concerning weather and seasonal geography
D: distance between stations (km)
W: the received power when there is no fading
W0: the received power when there is fading

Based on decades of practices performed by national research institutes, in

China, the values of constant factors are as follows:
No. KQ B C
1 Mountain areas 1.072×10-2 1 1.3
2 Hilly areas 2.75 ×10-3 1 1.8
3 plains 2.884 ×10-3 1 2.2
4 Lake, sea, swamp lands 2.63 ×10-4 1 3.2
In actual engineering, when the fading depth is already known “Fd(dB)”, the
probability of this depth to occur is:
Pr=KQfBdc10(-fd/10)
In the formula: meanings of the symbols are previously explained, 10(-fd/10) is the
multiple of fading depth.
In engineering, when Pr value of each relay circuit meets the bit error rate index
of the microwave channels, it is OK.
Have a think:
(1) Electric wave propagation in free sapce
(2) Influence of groud reflection on the electric wave propagation
(3) Influence of troposphere on the electric wave
(4) Fading caused by several atmospheric and ground effects
(5) Frequency selective fading and its influence on microwave communication
Pay special attention to (4) and (5).
4.7 Conclusion
This chapter mainly describes the propagation principles of microwave,
including propagation theory of free space, Huygens-Fresnel theory, Fresnel
theory of electric wave propagation; interference and polarization of electric
wave, electric wave reflection caused by non-homogeneous atmosphere,
influence of troposphere on the electric wave, super refraction caused by
irregular change of atmospheric medium gradient, reflection on different
characteristic grounds, diffraction on smooth spherical surface, propagation in
the presence of knife-edge obstacles and multi-obstacles, absorption of the
electric wave by rains and fogs in atmospheric propagation, and loss theory.
For more information about microwave transmission, refer to following
documents:
Microwave Communication Engineering Design Posts & Telecom Press

edited by Post & Telecommunication Design Institute 1989-08
Digital Microwave Communication Engineering Posts & Telecom Press
1991-11

Digital Microwave Communication Posts & Telecom Press edited by

Wang Yunfei Gao Fengquan, Yin Minguang 1992-01
Microwave Propagation Fading and Anti-Fading Technology edited by Gao
Yulong 1984-05
Microwave Propagation Posts & Telecom Press 1988-11
Chapter 5 Anti-Fading Technology in Digital

Microwave Equipment
z 　 Objectives
To have a general understanding on anti-fading technology
To master principles and features of all kinds of anti-fading technologies
To master all kinds of protection schemes for digital microwave equipment
Fading phenomenon in microwave propagation has impact on relay

transmission. Based on the wave propagation statistical rules, all kinds of
anti-fading technical measures are proposed; that is, anti-fading technology.
5.1 Overview
Multi-Path fading may cause fading and distortion of the transmission channel,
which varies with the geographical environment and time. Hence, any kind of
anti-fading measure must be adaptive.
To deal with flat fading, the automatic gain control circuit (AGE) of the
intermediate frequency amplifier in the receiver and channel switching method
are for common use.
To deal with frequency selective fading, the diversity technology and adaptive
equalization technology are adopted. The following three measures are used for
frequency selective anti-fading. These anti-fading technologies suppress
amplitude dispersion and delay dispersion in different ranges of space,
frequency and time. If these technologies are combined, a better anti-fading
effect can be achieved.
5.1.1 Purposes of Taking Anti-Fading Measures
(1) Compared to fiber transmission system, digital microwave relay system has
the following two problems:
¾ Reduced received power due to multi-path fading

¾ Degraded circuit performance due to wave shape distortion
Hence, the designers of the microwave relay system should take proper
anti-fading measures to meet indexes on general error performance parameters
of the system, such as SES probability.
(2) ITU-T specifies the error performance indexes of the end-to-end digital
channels within 27500km. ITU-R also responds and proposes similar
suggestions. To meet these indexes, digital microwave relay system should take
anti-fading measures to improve the system performance. During the design for
systems and/or equipment, all kinds of anti-fading devices are important parts of
the system. The stricter the indexes are, the more advanced anti-fading
methods the system should be adopted.
(3) Another purpose of the anti-fading measures is to popularize and apply

microwave relay links in relay segments where the propagation conditions are
weak. For example, proper diversity receiver and effective equalizer can
overcome the difficulty in long-haul across-the-sea spans. In these cases,
microwave relay system is always the unique transmission medium to transmit
services as required.
Any kind of anti-fading measure requires additional investment. Hence, both the
price and performance need be considered to decide an anti-fading measure.
5.1.2 Classification of Anti-Fading Measures
The anti-fading measures can be classified based on two standards.
Based on physical features
Table 5.1 and Table 5.2 illustrate the anti-fading measures classified based on
physical features. Category A relates to the equipment and category B relates to
the system.
Table 5.3 illustrates the classification based on functional features.
Table 5.1 Category A - anti-fading measure related to equipment
Frequency domain equalization
Adaptive equalization Linear equalization

Time domain equalization
Decision feedback equalization
XPIC
Interference cancellation
IC of other route

ATPC
forward error correction (FEC)
Table 5.2 Category B - anti-fading measure related to the system
Double space diversity

space diversity
Triple/quadruple space diversity
angle diversity
Same frequency band
frequency diversity
Cross-connect frequency band
multi-carrier transmission*
* Multi-carrier transmission is only used in areas where environments are bad.

Based on functional features
Multi-Path fading may cause power reduction or wave shape distortion when
signals are received. The spectrums within the frequency range is fully (flat
fading) or partially reduced (selective fading). As a kind of dominant fading in
microwave system, flat fading may cause relative reduction of C/N and C/I.
Selective fading is a kind of dominant fading in broad-band digital microwave
system.
The anti-fading measures described in Table 5.1 and Table 5.2 are used for
compensation in case of one or two preceding conditions.
Table 5.3 Classification based on functional features
Classification Effect
Adaptive equalization Wave shape distortion
(A) Anti-fading measure related to Interference cancellation Wave shape distortion
equipment ATPC Power reduction
forward error correction Power reduction
Space diversity Power reduction and wave shape distortion
(B) Anti-fading measure related to the Angle diversity Power reduction and wave shape distortion
system frequency diversity Power reduction and wave shape distortion
Multi-Carrier transmission Wave shape distortion
5.1.3 Evaluation on Anti-Fading Measures
The improvement factor of anti-fading measures is defined by I = P/P’. P refers

to the system interruption probability in a given fading depth in when there is not
anti-fading measure. P’ refers to the system interruption probability in a given
fading depth when there are anti-fading measures.
The value of I relates to the degree of performance degradation. As shown in
Figure 5.1, when there is space diversity, if the system has large fading margin,
the improvement effect is also great.

Figure 5.1 Space diversity improvement factor
Each anti-fading measure has its own improvement factor. However, the
improvement effect for two different anti-fading measures is not presented by
multiplying two improvement factors. For example, if space diversity and
adaptive equalizer are combined, the combined effect exists. The improvement
factor is bigger than the product of two factors.
5.2 Adaptive Equalization

In a digital microwave system, to compensate signal distortion caused by
multi-path fading and reduce the system interruption time, the adaptive
equalizer is widely used. Based on different working frequencies and places, the
equalizer is classified into two types.
Adaptive frequency domain equalizer (AFE): used in intermediate frequency (IF)
to control transfer function of the channel
Adaptive time domain equalizer (ATE): used in time domain to directly reduce
intersymbol interference (ISI) caused by bad transfer function
Compared to AFE, the equalization capability of ATE is stronger. Some SDH

microwave systems just use ATE, rather than AFE. However, most SDH
microwave systems use both AFE and ATE, which may cause combined effect.
5.2.1 AFE
Frequency equalization uses the frequency characteristics of an adjustable

network to compensate distortion of amplitude frequency characteristics and
phase frequency characteristics of actual channels. Currently, the common
equalizer is intermediate frequency adaptive equalizer, which is a kind of
bandpass equalization.
Intermediate frequency adaptive equalizer (IF-EQL) consists of correction
network (equalization circuit), equalization characteristic detector and controller.

IF-EQL is classified into IF tunable equalizer and IF adaptive amplitude

frequency slope equalizer.
Figure 5.2 illustrates the principle of tunable equalizer:
Figure 5.2 IF tunable adaptive equalizer
I. 5.2.1.1 Slope Frequency Domain Equalizer
When multi-path fading exists, slope frequency domain equalizer is used to

compensate the slope asymmetry in frequency response to microwave
channels. The equalizer introduces a tool to correct the amplitude slope and
thus recovers symmetry of power spectrum density of received signals.
Principle of slope frequency domain equalizer: Use a set of narrow-band filters
to monitor output power spectrums at three places. According to the tested
slope direction, a detection signal at the opposite direction is generated to mix
with the original signal. Thus the amplitude frequency characteristics can be
recovered to be flat.
Note: During spectrum monitoring, information about group delay distortion
cannot be obtained. Hence, the improvement effect of the equalizer is limited.
II. 5.2.1.2 Gap Frequency Domain Equalizer
The transfer function should be close to the reciprocal of the channel

characteristic that complies with the propagation model of two rays. In this way,
the actual transfer function can obtain flat amplitude frequency characteristics.
Principle of gap frequency domain equalizer: As a part, the resonance filter is

used to control its gradient coefficient and center frequency and thus trace the
fading gap. This kind of circuit always shows concave-down group delay
characteristic. Hence, when the channel encounters the minimum phase fading,
the signal distortion will reduce. However, if the channel encounters
non-minimum phase fading, group delay distortion will double. In this event, the
system characteristic curve of the minimum phase fading can be reduced, but
the characteristic curve of the non-minimum phase fading is not improved.

In Figure 5.2, the control signals of most frequency domain equalizers are
extracted from signal spectrum by using three bandpass filters. Hence, the
many hardware devices are involved and the control accuracy is bad. Currently,
the control signals of some frequency domain equalizers are extracted from
baseband signals; that is, time domain controls equalization of frequency
domain.
5.2.2 ATE
ATE is used in time domain to directly reduce intersymbol interference (ISI)

caused by distortion of amplitude and group delay. The following formula
describes the discrete input/output relation of general channel response,
visually presenting basic principle of ATE:
In the preceding formula:

Xk(τ) = xk (kT+τ) is the received composite signal at the sampling moment: kT+τ
ak refers to the transmitted data symbol at kT.
nk refers to the sampling value of additive white Gauss noise (AWGN)
hi(τ),i=–∞……,+∞ is the sampling value of general channel pulse response at

the sampling phase τ.
The preceding equation describes two reasons for the quality reduction of
transmitted symbols: additive noise and interference from previous and later
symbols. Only when pulse response h(τ) meets the Nyquist rule, may
non-intersymbol interference be implemented. Actually, though the transmitting
and received filters are designed to form the Nyquist filter, time-varying
multi-path propagation of attribute microwave channel destroys this
characteristic, thus causing severe intersymbol interference. To avoid
intersymbol interference, an adaptive equalizer should be added out of the
receiver.
For the microwave equipment in QAM mode, different information is transmitted
through orthogonal phase carriers. Hence, distortion caused on the propagation
channel can interfere in mutual orthogonal carriers. Time domain equalization is
performed between orthogonal carriers to eliminate such orthogonal
interference.
Figure 5.3 illustrates the principle of an IF adaptive transverse equalizer:

C-2 C-1 C0 C1 C2
X X X X X S1(t)
S(t) S'(t)
T T T T T ∑
X X X X X S2(t)
d-2 d-1 d0 d1 d2
∑ 90°
Figure5.3 Principle diagram of an IF adaptive transverse equalizer
T refers to the delay line and every class of delay is a bit.
The ATE can equalize non-minimum phase fading when the reflected wave is
stronger than direct wave: ρ > 1 .
In actual use, both the AFE and ATE are used.
5.3 Cross-Polarization Interference Counteracter (XPIC)

In a common microwave radio transmission system, the frequency of two
polarization waves are allocated in different interleave mode. The interference
between two polarization waves is small. However, in SDH microwave
transmission, to improve the spectrum utilization, the co-channel or
channel-insertion cross-polarization frequency regeneration mode is adopted.
In a light-of-sight propagation route, in the event of multi-path fading, dispersion
on the nonuniform layer and ground or rain and fog, the cross-polarization
signals may severely cause interference to co-polarization signals. Hence, the
interwave interference compensation technology of cross-polarization should be
introduced.
Orthogonal polarization Interference Counteracter (OPIC) can be implemented
in radio frequency, intermediate frequency and baseband frequency. The latter
two frequency bands are more common. After the XPIC is adopted, the XPI can
be improved by about 20 dB.
Figure 5.4 shows the principle of XPIC (NEC3000 series SDH microwave
equipment):

Figure5.4 Principle of XPIC
5.4 Automatic Transmit Power Control (ATPC)

As a key technology in digital microwave area, ATPC helps the output power of
a transmitter operates in a normal value (or minimum value) Pnom in most cases.
When the level of the remote receiver reduces, the reverse communication
service channel is used to control the transmitter configured in the feedback
loop and thus the output power can gradually reach Pmax.
Characteristics of ATPC: The output power of a microwave transmitter can
automatically trace the receiving levels at the receive end within the range
controlled by ATPC and vary with the levels. In normal propagation conditions,
the output power of a transmitter is fixed at a low level that may be about 10–15
dB lower than the normal level. When the level is lower than the lowest received
level specified by ATPC and the receiver detects propagation fading in the event
of propagation fading, ATPC uses the RFCOH byte to control the peer end
transmitter and thus increase the transmitting power till a rated power value.
Usually, the time rate occurring on severe propagation fading is short; that is,
lower than 1%. After the ATPC is adopted, the transmitter operates at the power
10–15 dB lower than the rated power in most time (over 99%).

Figure 5.5 Principle of ATPC
According to the change rate of the transmitting power of a transmitter, ATPC is

classified into mutation ATPC system and progressive ATPC system. For the
mutation ATPC system, when the received level of a receiver reduces to the
startup threshold level of ATPC, the transmitting power of a transmitter operates
at a high level at once. When the received level increases to a set upper level,
the transmitting power operates at a low level at once. For the progressive
ATPC system, when the received level ranges between two thresholds, the level
of the transmitting power changes gradually.
To adapt the change of electric wave fading, the trace speed of the ATPC
system should be 100 dB/s. In addition, any bit error should not occur due to the
ATPC during the operation of ATPC. In common frequency heteropolarizing
frequency reuse mode, two polarizations should start ATPC at the same time,
thus avoiding one in a high level and the other in a low level. Otherwise, severe
interference may occur.
Figure 5.5 Mutation and progressive ATPC systems
Advantages of using ATPC are as follows:
(1) In the event of strong fading, output backoff (OBO) can be reduced. In the
middle-high BER area (10-9 ≤ BER ≤ 10-6), the gain of an available system is
added and the impact on BER performance due to bad linear performance of a
transmitter can be omitted.
(2) Joint adaptive DC feeding may be provided. As a result, power
consumption of high-power amplifiers is obviously reduced and the power
consumption of the radio frequency amplifiers is equal to 50% of the normal

level, which facilitates to largely improve the mean time between failures (MTBF)
of FET power device.
(3) The upward fading problem of the receiver is removed.
(4) The impact due to adjacent channel interference (ACI) is reduced and the
performance improvement is interrupted.
(5) At the crowded railroad terminals, the reduction of nominal received level is
prone to frequency coordination.
These advantages are very important for the new generation SDH microwave
system.
5.5 Diversity Reception

Diversity reception: a resultant signal is obtained by combining or selecting
signals, from two or more independent sources, that have been modulated with
identical information-bearing signals, but which may vary in their fading
characteristics at any given instant. Diversity reception is used to minimize the
effects of fading.
5.5.1 Classification of Diversity Reception
Diversity reception is classified into the following types:
(1) Space diversity (SD): a method of transmission or reception, or both, in

which the effects of fading are minimized by the simultaneous use of two or
more physically separated antennas, ideally separated by one or more
wavelengths. As the antennas are separated physically, the correlation is small.
The count of antennas decides the count of diversity.
Figure 5.6 Space diversity
Space diversity can effectively solve K type fading caused by interference from
the ground reflected wave and direct wave and interference fading caused by
the troposphere. The space diversity can save frequency resources, but the
equipment involved is complex. Two or more sets of antennas and feeders are
needed.

(2) Frequency diversity (FD): Transmission and reception in which the same
information signal is transmitted and received simultaneously on two or more
independently fading carrier frequencies to reduce the effects of fading.
The frequency diversity uses the irrelevance of fading in different frequencies;

that is, a feature with low probability of co-interruption on two frequencies. In
SDH microwave systems, the main reason for circuit interruption is not the
reduction of signal level, but the occurrence of frequency selective fading.
Frequency diversity improves the digital microwave system much greater than
the analog microwave system. As shown in the trial result on an actual
microwave circuit ranging from 5925 to 6425 MHz, the correlation of flat fading
depths of signals between two channels at a spacing of 60 MHz is high and the
correlation coefficient is 0.97. However, the selective fading is seldom irrelevant
and the coefficient is only 0.05. This is the reason for high improvement
coefficient of frequency diversity in microwave systems.
In frequency diversity systems, the correlation of two diversity received signals
(frequency correlation) should be small. Only in this event, deep fading on two
frequencies can be avoided in a given path and good diversity effect can be
implemented. The bigger the spacing of two frequencies is, the smaller the
correlation of deep fading at the same time.
When the diversity in the same frequency uses 2% of the working frequency as
a frequency spacing, the diversity improvement effect can be obtained.
Figure5.7 Frequency diversity
Frequency diversity has obvious effects and needs an antenna and a

feeder only. However, the utilization of its frequency bands is low.
(3) Polarization diversity: Diversity transmission and reception wherein the

same information signal is transmitted and received simultaneously on
orthogonally polarized waves with fade-independent propagation characteristics.
Compared to other diversities, the effect of polarization diversity is smaller. The
example is seldom seen.
(4) Angle diversity: Diversity reception in which beyond-the-horizon tropospheric
scatter signals are received at slightly different angles, equivalent to paths
through different scatter volumes in the troposphere. The second beam can be
provided by an independent antenna or dual-feed antenna. The structure of
angle diversity consists of two antennas installed side by side. They have
different elevation angles or directions. Figure 5.8 is a typical structure. The
main antenna is parallel with the main radial, and the beam of diversity antenna
is elevation angle ө.

Figure 5.8 Angle diversity
Space diversity with the angle diversity has much better improvement effects
than space diversity without the angle diversity, especially when a big upright
space between two antennas cannot be ensured in paths with strong ground
reflection. Currently, a large number of test results related to the angle diversity
system exist. These results show that the performance of angle diversity and
space diversity is equivalent when the performance of a digital microwave
system depends on the amplitude dispersion. However, when the performance
depends on the thermal noise effect, space diversity is better.
5.5.2 Description of Space Diversity
Frequency diversity and space diversity are used more widely. However, current
frequency resources are more insufficient and frequency diversity has a good
effect only when the frequency spacing is big. Hence, space diversity is applied
more often and thus is described as follows.
Space diversity needs several antennas in the same tower. When deciding the
antenna spacing, analyze and check whether multi-path fading on the specified
path is caused by aerosphere or ground reflection.
For the path with weak ground reflection on foothills, when space diversity
focuses on air multi-path fading, use the following formula:
ρ c = exp[−0.0021 fS 0.4d ]
ρc refers to the correlation coefficient of two antenna signals and the value
ranges from 0.4 to 0.6.
S refers to the upright spacing between the center of the upper received
antenna and lower received antenna; that is, “diversity antenna spacing” (m).
In engineering practice, the value of S can be calculated simply as follows:
S ≥ (100–200)λ
For plain areas and water circuit, the “half lobe distance” principle is adopted to
calculate the spacing as follows:
λd d 22
S1 = h2' = h2 −
4h ' 2 2kR0

λd d12
S2 = h1' = h1 −
4h '1 2kR0
S1 refers to the diversity antenna spacing of the received station and S 2

refers to the diversity antenna spacing of the transmitting station (m).
h1 refers to the height from the received antenna to the mountaintop and h2
refers to the height from the transmitting antenna to the mountaintop (m).
When the preceding formulas are adopted, pay attention to the following two
issues:
a. When the clearance of a long path is small, the frequency is low and the
height difference of antennas on both ends is big, the values calculated by using
the preceding formulas will be big. Select a proper value according to the
formula: S ≥ (100–200)λ.
b. When the clearance of a short path is big and the frequency is high, the
values calculated by using the preceding formulas will be small. Select a value
according to the formula: S ≥ (100–200)λ and the value can be taken as the
integer multiple of “half lope distance”.
In common engineering application, the spacing of space diversity for a digital
microwave system can range from 8 to 12m and 10m is available. Space
diversity largely reduces the received power and improves signal distortion.
Space diversity reduces impact on flat fading and in-band amplitude dispersion
and thus improves the transmission quality of digital microwave circuits.
Space diversity is further divided into the following:
(1) Standard space diversity:
Standard space diversity is a common receiving mode of the SDH microwave

system. A transceiver unit needs one transmitter and two receivers (one is
diversity receiver). Each station needs two antennas, including one main
antenna (receiving and transmitting the main signal) and one diversity antenna
(receiving diversity signal).
Note: When the SDH microwave system configured with 1+0 protection scheme,
space diversity can be used.
(2) Hybrid diversity:

Hybrid space diversity is a common receiving mode of the PDH microwave
system (one transceiver unit has one transmitter and one receiver). One station
uses one antenna (one antenna can receive and transmit two main signals) and
the other station uses two antennas (each can receive and transmit one main
signal).
Note: When PDH microwave system is configured with 1+0 protection scheme,
hybrid space diversity cannot be used. To use hybrid space diversity, 1+1
protection scheme need be configured.
(3) Non-standard space diversity:

Non-standard space diversity is also a common receiving mode of the PDH

microwave system (one transceiver unit has one transmitter and one receiver).
Each station uses two antennas (one antenna can receive and transmit one
main signal).
Note: When PDH microwave system is configured with 1+0 protection scheme,
non-standard space diversity cannot be used. To use non-standard space
diversity, 1+1 protection scheme need be configured.
Figure 5.9 is the sketch map of common space diversity in engineering design:
Figure5.9 Classification of space diversity
5.5.3 Compound Mode of Diversity Signals
There are two modes to process receiving signals from different diversity paths:
switching diversity and compound diversity.
Switching diversity is to choose one of the two signal paths based on maximum
signal-to-noise ratio or minimum bit error rate. Integrated diversity is to
compound two signals based on certain rules. Based on different rules, there
are following compound modes: maximum power compound (co-phase
compound), maximum signal-to-noise ratio co-phase compound and minimum
chromatic dispersion compound. The advantages and disadvantages of each
diversity signal compound modes are described as follows:
(1) Switching Diversity
For switching diversity, in switching, there are problems of amplitude and phase
jump and waveform distortion. This diversity mode is very simple and it is mainly
used in PDH microwave communication and normally realized in baseband.
(2) Maximum Power Compound

It is also called co-phase compound, this compound ignores frequency selective

fading and only considers the flat fading caused by multi-path effect. It is
ineffective to enhance receiving level. This compound mode does not consider
separate signal-to-noise ratio of the two receiving signals. If the signal-to-noise
ratios of the two paths are different, the signal-to-noise ratio of the compound
signal may decrease.
Maximum power compound is easily realized in IF.
(3) Maximum Signal-to-Noise Ratio Co-Phase Compound
To ensure optimal signal-to-noise ratio of the diversity receiving compound

signal, you can adopt maximum signal-to-noise ratio co-phase compound. The
advantage is that when a receiving signal tends to be 0, the signal-to-noise ratio
of the compound signal is not less than the signal-to-noise ratio value when
single antenna is used to receive signals.
(4) Minimum Chromatic Dispersion Compound
In the condition of wideband modulation, frequency selective fading cannot be

ignored for its influence is even more serious than flat fading. At this time, the
main objective of space diversity is to overcome frequency selective fading and
thus minimum chromatic dispersion is adopted.
The disadvantage of minimum chromatic dispersion compound is that the
compound output power is less than that of co-phase compound, which may
cause thermal noise to increase and deteriorate bit error rate.
5.6 Microwave Equipment Protection Mode

Currently, there are two protection mode widely used in microwave equipment:
hitless switch module (HSM) and hot standby (HSB). Normally, the two are
combined in use to protect microwave equipment.
5.6.1 HSM
As it is described previously, FD and SD are channel backup. When the signal

of some channel is unavailable, it can be replaced by the signal of another
channel, and at the receiving end, active/standby channels switch
independently. After demodulating RF signals, local IF board not only sends
signals to its own multiplexing module but also sends one signal to the backup
IF board.
Multiplexing module selects and receives the signal of the best quality of all the
signals, and then hitless switch of the baseband signal can be performed.
Transmitting process of FD and SD are the same, both are cross dual fed. The
difference is, when it is SD, ODU of the backup channel does not transmit
signals but only receives signals; when it is FD, only an antenna is needed, and
the two ODUs transmits same services with different frequencies.

Figure5.10 HSM protection mode—schematic
5.6.2 HSB
HSB is similar to 1+1 hot standby of the cross-connect board and SCC in optical
network equipment, it realizes the backup of IF board and ODU to be dual fed
and selective receiving. The receiving end completes selective receiving at the
cross-connect side, and HSB can be mixed with FD or SD to provide protection.
Normally, cross-connect board only receives one signal and when this signal
fails, the cross-connect board is switched to another signal. Therefore, HSB
switching may damage the service.
Figure5.11 HSB protection mode—schematic
There are two ways to realize HSB:
Add a hybrider between two ODUs and the antenna, and then you can
achieve 1+1 HSB protection by using one antenna and use FD technology
at the same time.
Use two antennas to achieve 1+1 HSB protection. You can use FD and SD
technologies to improve system availability.
See figure 5.12.

Figure5.12 connection of single antenna and two antennas used in HSB
It should be emphasized that HSM switching is completed in IF board and can

achieve hitless switching, while HSB is completed in cross-connect board and
may damage services.
5.6.3 Classification of Digital Microwave Equipment Protection Modes
Classification of microwave equipment protection modes is shown in table 5.4.

1+0 non-protection is that both receive and transmit ends use one IDU and one
ODU. For connection of other protection modes, see figures 5.13–5.16.
Table 5.4 Classification of Digital Microwave Equipment Protection
Configuration Protection mode Remark Application

Terminal of the
1+0 NP Non-protection
network
circuits where
1+1 HSB Equipment proteciton Intra-frequency distance between the
stations is short
Channel protection, Select proper mode
1+1 HSB+FD Inter-frequency
equipment protection based on
equipment and antenna geographical
1+1 HSB+SD Intra-frequency
proteciton conditions and
protection of channel, customer’s
1+1 FD+SD Inter-frequency requirement
equipment and antenna
High capacity
Channel protection, equipment
N+1 FD Inter-frequency backbone
protection
transmission

Figure5.13 HSB
Figure5.14 HSB+FD
Figure5.15 HSB+SD
In figure5.15, if frequency transmitted by each antenna is inter-frequencym, it

isHSB+SD+FD.
In figure5.16, Mn is the active channel and P is protection channel. They both
include independent demodulator and modulator, receiving and transmitting
units. When failure or fading occurs to the active channels, signals may be
switched to standby channels, channel backup is inter-frequency backup and
this protection mode (FD) is mainly used in all indoor microwave equipment.
This protection mode is always called N+1 (N≤3, 7, 11) protection and different
manufacturers support different specifications.

Figure5.16 N+1
5.7 Interference and Main Methods against Interference
5.7.1 Interference Source
Interference on the communication system is from all kinds of sources which

mainly are:
(1) Circuits thermal noise, which is caused by thermal disturbance of the
electrons in conductor.
(2) Inner noise of electric devices, which is mainly caused by shot effect when
charges inside devices move discontinuously.
(3) Thermal radiation noise of objects (including absorption noise) which is
caused by thermal radiation of objects.
(4) Space interference, a noise radiation from universal objects
(5) Atmospheric noise, which is caused by electric discharge in the atmosphere
and is in the shape of pulse.
(6) Industry interference, electric radiation from electrical equipment, such as
electrical spark interference.
(7) Radio station interference, signal radiation from other radio stations.
(8) All kinds of interference produced inside receiver, such as alternating current
hum, compounding noise, micro-phonic effect, non-linear result and oscillator
phase jitter and so on.
5.7.2 Basic Methods of Communication System against Interference
Major factors that affect communication quality are defects (including failure) in
equipment and interference. Quality of communication equipment can be
improved under the development of scientific technology. But interference
always exists and it is accelerated to some extent when the electric equipment
is widely used. Influence of interference on communications is increasingly
aggravated. Thus it becomes more crucial to prevent communication systems
against interference.
Anti-interference in communication systems already becomes a specialized

subject which attracts a great deal of scholars and engineers. Currently,
research on communication technology is always research on the
anti-interference technology (or closely related to anti-interference technology).
Summarizing existing anti-interference methods, the basic methods are:
(1) Amplifying the power of transmitting signals; improving the level of input
signals of the receiving end
This method is very effective but limited by many aspects such as equipment
size, weight and power-consumption quantity. In addition, amplifying
transmitting power may aggravate interference on other radio stations or lines.
Therefore, radio management administrations always set strict limitations on the
maximum transmitting power of stations.
(2) Using directional antenna to conduct space selection
Directional antenna is good for improving the strength of available signals and it
can suppress interference from other directions on some particular high-level
interference at the same time. You can also use directional suppression method
to weaken the strength of signals. But complex and huge antennas are always
required in this method, thus the method is also limited to great extent.
(3) Using narrowband filterer to conduct frequency selection
This is the basic method to prevent communication systems against

interference, almost all the communication equipment adopt this method.
Narrowband filterer is complicated in crafts. When working frequency is higher,
satisfactory attenuation feature cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, it should
cooperate with other anti-interference measures to achieve required
anti-interference performance.
(4) Using correlator to conduct waveform selection
If narrowband filtering considered to be processing signals in the frequency

domain and then correlated receiving method is to process signals in the time
domain. When the input signal of correlator and the interference level are both
very low to ensure correlator is under linear working status, its anti-interference
ability is always superior to narrowband filtering. Thus, this method attracts
more and more attention. However, when input interference level exceeds the
linear working area of correlator, anti-interference performance may obviously
degrade. Therefore, it is always used together with narrowband filtering.
(5) Improving modulation and demodulation
Based on different features of interference, narrowband modulation (such as

single sideband modulation), wideband modulation (such as frequency
modulation), frequency-expanding communication technology and digital
modulation technology are used to improve anti-interference ability. Technology
of this aspect is rapidly developed now.
(6) Using error correction and detection technology to check errors
This is an effective anti-interference measure which is developed in digital
communication technology, and it is greatly used in communication systems
that have strict requirement for reliability.

Have a think:
(1) Objectives, classifications and evaluation of measures against digital
microwave fading
(2) Principles and features of technologies related to protect equipment
(3) Diversity
(4) Protection modes of microwave equipment
(5) Interference and main methods against interference
Diversity is very import, you should pay more attention to this section.
5.8 Conclusion
This chapter first describes the fading of digital microwave transmission and
objectives, classifications and evaluation of measures against fading, and then
explains theories and features of anti-fading technologies related to microwave
equipment, diversity technologies related to systems, and protection modes of
microwave equipment, at last, it introduces the interference in microwave
propagation and main anti-interference methods.
Chapter 6 Digital Microwave Engineering

Calculation
z 　Objectives:
To understand microwave path parameter calculation
To understand microwave circuit indexes calculation
6.1 Overview
Microwave engineering calculation includes two major parts: path parameter
calculation and circuit indexes calculation.
6.2 Microwave Path Parameter Calculation

Microwave path parameter calculation includes calculation of station distance,
communication azimuth, elevation/minus angle, and clearance and reflection
point.
6.2.1 Microwave Station Antenna Communication Azimuth Calculation
(1) Based on the longitude and latitude of A and B, calculate the true northern
azimuth α A from A to B.

sin(φ 2 − φ1 )
α = arctan (rad )
cos V1 tan V2 − sin V1 cos(φ 2 − φ1 )
When tan α ＞0, V1 < V2 , α A= α A
V1 ＞ V2 , α A= π + α
When tan α < 0, V1 ＞ V2 , α A= π − α
V1 < V2 , α A= 2π − α
In the formula:
φ1 : Latitude of A
φ 2 : Latitude of B
V1 : Longitude of A
V2 : Longitude of B
(2) Based on projection coordinates of A and B, calculate true northern azimuth
α A of A and B.
ΔY
α = tan −1 (rad )
ΔX
ΔX = X 2 − X 1
ΔY = Y2 − Y1
α A = α + θm X 1 ≤ X 2 , Y1 ≤ Y2
α A = π + α + θ m X 1 ≥ X 2 , Y1 ≥ Y2
α A = π − α + θ m X 1 ≥ X 2 , Y1 ≤ Y2
α A = 2π − α + θ m X1 ≤X 2 , Y1 ≥Y
2
(ΔX 2 + ΔY 2 ≠ 0)
In the formula:
X 1 : Longitudinal coordinates of A Y1 : horizontal coordinates of A
X 2 : Longitudinal coordinates of B Y2 : horizontal coordinates of B

θm : Separation angle between the true meridian marked below A and the
coordinates.
Coordinate of A is at the left side of true meridian,

θm is a negative value
Coordinate of B is at the right side of true meridian,

θm is a positive value.
6.2.2 Calculation of Path Distance
(1) Calculation method when ground is flat ( d < 10 km):
[
d = R0 (V2 − V1 ) 2 + (φ 2 − φ1 ) cos V2 ]2
(Km)
In the formula: R0 : earth radius, R0 =6370 km;

Parameters of longitude and latitude are both radian.
(2) Calculation method of great-circle path:
d = cos −1 (cos α cos β + sin α sin β cos C )R0

In the formula:
a = π / 2 − V1 ;
β = π / 2 − V2 ;
C = φ1 − φ 2
(3) Calculation method of coordinate path distance:
d = ΔX 2 + ΔY 2 (Km)
The meaning of the parameters in the formula is same as that of 6.2.1 (2).
6.2.3 Calculation of Elevation and Minus Angles
Elevation and minus angles of antenna can be calculated by the following

formula:
H 2 + h2 − (H 1 + h1 ) d
θA = − (Radian)
d 2kR0
H 1 + h1 − (H 2 + h2 ) d
θB = − (Radian)
d 2kR0
In the formula:
θ A : Elevation and minus angle of antenna at A

θ B : Elevation and minus angles of antenna at B

H 1 + h1 : Height above sea level at A
H 2 + h2 : Height above sea level at B

k : Equivalent earth radius
R0 : Earth radius, R0 = 6370 km
6.2.4 Calculation of Clearance
Following is a typical microwave path cross-section figure. In practice,

microwave circuits are similar to this cross section.
Figure 6.1 Clearance
Sea level
Considering atmospheric refraction, clearance hce is expressed by:
hce =
(h1 + H 1 )d 2 + (h2 + H 2 )d1 −
H 3 − he (m)
d
d1 d 2
he =
2kR0
In the formula:

h1 , h2 (m): height of the receiving/transmitting antenna relative to the peak
H1 , H 2 (m): height of the peak above sea level of the receiving and transmitting
site
d1 , d2 ( km): distance from the receiving point to the obstacle (reflection point)
H3 (m): height of the obstacle above sea level
he (m): height of the obstacle (reflection point) relative to the ground
k : Equivalent earth radius coefficient

R0 : Earth radius, R0 =6370 km.
6.2.5 Calculation of Reflection Point
Basic equation of microwave relay section reflection point is as follows:
[ ]
d13 − 3dd12 / 2 + d 2 / 2 − kR0 (h1 + h2 ) d1 + kR0 h1 d = 0
Refer to the following equation group for calculation in practice.
d1 = d / 2 + 2 q ' cos(φ / 3 + 240)
φ = cos −1 (r / q' q' )
q' = d 2 / 12 + 8.5k (h1 + h2 ) / 4
r = 6.37 kd (h2 − h1 ) / 4
d1 is the distance of h1 from the reflection point (for smooth earth surface).
6.2.6 Determining Antenna Gain
Antenna gain is determined by actual antenna direction diagram. When there is

no direction diagram, estimate antenna gain by the following equation:
Supposed D is antenna diameter, λ is wavelength, when D / λ >100:
⎧G0 − 2.5 × 10 −3 (φD / λ ) 2 Λ Λ Λ 0 0 ≤ φ ≤ φ1

⎪
⎪2 + 15 lg( D / λ ) Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ φ1 ≤ φ ≤ φ r
G (φ ) = ⎨
⎪32 − 25 lg φ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ φ r ≤ φ ≤ 48
0
⎪− 10 Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ 48 0 ≤ φ ≤ 180 0
⎩
When D / λ <100:

⎧G0 − 2.5 × 10 −3 (φD / λ ) 2 Λ Λ Λ 0 0 ≤ φ ≤ φ1

⎪
⎪2 + 15 lg( D / λ ) Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ φ1 ≤ φ ≤ 100λ / D
G (φ ) = ⎨
⎪52 − 10 lg( D / λ ) − 25 lg φ Λ Λ Λ 100λ / D ≤ φ ≤ 48
0
⎪10 − 10 lg( D / λ ) Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ Λ 48 0 ≤ φ ≤ 180 0

⎩
In the formula:
[
G0 = 10 lg 0.55(πD λ )
2
]
φ1 = 20λ / D G0 − 2 − 15 lg( D / λ ( 0 )
φ r = 15.85(D / λ )−0.6 ( 0 )
φ : Field angle away from the main beam central axis, unit (degree)
6.3 Calculation of Microwave Circuit Index

Calculation of microwave circuit indexes includes calculation of free space
receiving level, interruption ratio, frequency diversity improvement degree,
space diversity improvement degree, rain los and interference.
6.3.1 Calculation of Receiving Level and Flat Fading Margin
Free space receiving level:
Pro = Pt + (Gt + Gr ) − ( Lt + Lr ) − LBr − L f
L f = 92.44 + 20 lg[d (km)] + 20 lg[ f (GHz )]
In the formula: pt (dBm) is the transmitting power, Gt , Gr are
receiving/transmitting antenna gain, Lt , Lr are loss of receiving/transmitting
feeder, LBr is branching system loss, L f is free space transmission loss.
Flat fading margin:
Fd = Pro − Pth
In the formula: Pth (dBm) is the threshold receiving level of the receiver.
6.3.2 Calculation of Interference Level
In the radio relay communication system that adopts two-frequency system,

there are following types of interference of digital microwave communication:

(1) Intra-system interference: reverse receiving interference, reverse

transmitting interference, cross-station interference, lateral receiving
interference, and lateral transmitting interference and reverse transmitting
lateral receiving interference.
(2) Inter-system interference: system interference in the adjacent lines,
inter-system interference at the joint point.
(3) Interference from other systems: satellite communication system
interference, radar interference, broadcast interference, dispersion system
interference.
For digital microwave engineering design, the former two types of interference
are considered, especially co-frequency interference. Specific methods are as
follows:
(1) Calculation of useful signal level:
Pro = Pt + (Gt + Gr ) − ( Lt + Lr ) − LBr − L f
hce ≥ H0 L f
In engineering design, normally, path clearance of useful signals ,
can be calculated based on free space transmission loss.
(2) Calculation of interference signal level:
Pri = Pi + (G + G ) − ( L + Lr ) − L − L fi
t
' '
r
'
t
'
Br
In the formula:
pi (dBm): transmitting power of interference transmitter
Gi' (dBi): gain of the antenna at the interference station in the direction of
station interfered with
Gr' (dBi): gain of the antenna at the station interfered with in the direction of
interference source
L't (dB): feeder system loss at the transmitting end of the interference station
Lr (dB): feeder system loss at the receiving end of the station interfered with
L'Br (dB): tributary system total loss of the interference station and the station
interfered with
L fi (dB): transmission loss of interference path
Calculation of L fi is as follows:
(1) When interference path clearance is hce ≥ H0 , L fi is calculated based on

free space transmission loss.
hce ≤ H0 L fi
(2) When interference path clearance is , is calculated as:

L fi = 92.44 + 20 lg[d (km)] + 20 lg[ f (GHz )] + Ld
Ld : Additional diffraction loss. Obstacles frequently encountered in the

microwave engineering design are knife-edge, and knife-edge diffraction loss is
calculated as:
⎧ h h
⎪6 − 6.9 ce Λ Λ Λ − 1 ≤ ce ≤ 1
⎪ H0 H0
⎪⎪ h h
Ld = ⎨9 − 4 ce Λ Λ Λ Λ − 3 ≤ ce ≤ −1
⎪ H0 H0
⎪ h h
⎪11 + 20 lg ce Λ Λ Λ ce ≤ −3
⎪⎩ H0 H0
In the formulas:
hce (m): path clearance
H0 (m): free space clearance

Note: the above additional diffraction loss calculation formula is only for
knife-edge obstacles. For the calculation of additional diffraction loss of single
circular obstacle and multiple obstacles, refer to GB/T 13619-92 of Microwave
Relay Communication Interference Calculation.
6.3.3 Calculation of Diversity Receiving Parameter
¾ Calculation of Space Diversity Antenna Distance
In hilly areas where the ground reflection is not strong, space diversity can be
calculated when space multi-path fading is mainly considered:
ρ c = exp[−0.0021 fS 0.4d ]
In the formula:
ρ c : Correlation coefficient of signals of the two antennas, generally, it ranges

from 0.4 to 0.6.
S: vertical distance between the centers of the upper and lower receiving
antenna, shortened as “diversity antenna distance” the unit is “m”.
In engineering, S can be easily calculated by selecting a suitable value based
on the following formula:
S≥ (100–200) λ
For circuits of plains and water area, S is calculated based on “half-lobe
distance” theory; the calculation formula is as follows:

λd d 22
S1 = h2' = h2 −
4h ' 2 2kR0
λd d12
S2 = h1' = h1 −
4 h '1 2kR0
In the formulas:
S1 , S 2 : diversity antenna distance of receiving and transmitting stations

respectively.
h1 , h2 : height of the receiving and transmitting antenna respectively relative to

the top of the mountain
When using the previous formulas, be aware of the following two issues:
(1) When path clearance is very small, path length is very long, frequency is
relatively low, and difference of heights of the antennas at the two ends is huge,
use the previous formulas to calculate H and S, the result tends to be larger. At
this time, select a proper value based on S≥ (100–200) λ
(2) When path clearance is very large, path length is very short, and frequency
is relatively high, use the previous formulas to calculate H and S, the result
tends to be smaller. At this time, value selected should be also based on S≥
(100–200) λ, but it is better to be integral multiple of half-lobe distance.
¾ Improvement degree of Space Diversity
(1) When there is no strong reflection, improvement degree of vertical space

diversity can be calculated as follows.
When d and S apply to wide range
I sd = [1 − exp(−3.34 × 10 −4 × S 0.87 f −0.12

d 0.48 P −1.04 )] × 10 ( Fd −V ) 10
V = G1 − G2
In the formula:
I: improvement degree of space diversity
G1 , G 2 : gain of the diversity receiving and transmitting antennas respectively.

P: average fading probability of the worst months
Fd : fading depth related to fading probability P

The range of other parameters in the formula is as follows:
3 m≤S≤23 m; 2 GHz≤f≤11GHz; 43 km≤d≤243 km
When each parameter applies to normal situations,
I sd = 1.2 S 2 ( f d ) × 10 −3 × 10 ( Fd −v ) 10

The range of other parameters in the formula is as follows:

5 m ≤S≤15 m; 2 GHz≤f≤11GHz; 24 km≤d≤70 km
If value of the parameters exceed the range, the previous formula is only
effective when I≥10.
(2) Under the condition of Rayleigh fading, ground reflection can be neglected;
vertical space diversity improvement degree can be calculated by:
I sd = [1 − exp(−0.0021Sf (0.4d )1 2 )] × 10 ( Fd −V ) 10
The range of each parameter is as follows:
5m≤S≤25m; 2GHz≤f≤6GHz; 40km≤d≤75km.
¾ Frequency Diversity Improvement Degree
For 1+1 microwave relay communication system, frequency diversity

improvement degree can be calculated by:
80 Δf
I fd = × × 10 Fd 10
fd f
In the formula: Δf / f is the ratio of the difference of two frequencies to the
center frequency.
The range of each parameter is as follows:
2GHz≤f≤11GHz; 30km≤d≤70km; Δf / f ≤5％.
If the parameter is beyond the range, error is thus caused. This formula is only
effective when I≥5.
For n+1 microwave relay communication system, frequency diversity
improvement degree can be calculated by dividing a coefficient.
n+1 1+1 2+1 3+1 4+1 5+1
n+1 (reduced
1 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.0
coefficient)
¾ In practical engineering design, the ranges of the three parameters
Space diversity spacing: for digital microwave, it can be 8m to 12m, normally, it

is 10m.
Space diversity improvement degree: normally, it is calculated by the second
method. If the space value is more than 200, take the value of improvement
degree as 200.
Frequency diversity improvement degree: if the value is more than 10, take the
improvement degree as 10.

6.3.4 Calculation of Circuit Interruption Rate
I. 6.3.4.1 Interruption Rate caused by Flat Fading
There are two ways to predict flat fading:

(1) Considering the influence of antenna height difference
Advantages: in a group of relay sections with the same type, for a relay section,
it is better to have antenna difference; for two relay sections, if the frequency
and station distance are the same, it is better to have large antenna height
difference than small antenna height difference. The calculation formula is as
follows:
Fd
K −
Pfr = f 1.3 d 3.110 10
(10 + Δh )
In the formula: Δh = h2 − h1 (m), relative height difference of two antennas.
D: station distance (km);

F: working frequency (GHz);
Fd: flat fading margin;
K: factors of terrain and weather conditions;
In China, terrains are divided into four types:
Type A: k=6×10-7 , mountain area;
Type B: k=1.26×10-6 , hilly area;
Type C: k=6×10-6 , plain;
Type D: k=3.25×10-5 , sea and water area where fading is severe.

(2) Considering the variation of C
Advantage: for relay sections with different types, the value of C is different and
it reflects different influence of different station distance of relay sections on the
interruption rate. The calculation formula is as follows:
Fd
−
Pfr = KQf B d C 10 10
In the formula:
KQ is related to weather conditions and terrains. The value of the parameter in

different conditions is as follows.
Table 6.1 Value of the Parameter in different conditions
Terrain types KQ B C Conditions
A 1.072×10-4 1 1.3 Highly dry mountain areas

Terrain types KQ B C Conditions

Continental temperate zone and
B 2.750×10-5 1 1.8 middle-altitude hilly areas
C 2.884×10-5 1 2.2 Coastal temperate plain areas
D 2.630×10-6 1 3.2 Cross-sea circuits
Normally, engineering design adopts the second method.
II. 6.3.4.2 Interruption Rate caused by Frequency Selective Fading
Interruption rate caused by frequency selective fading can be calculated based

on linear amplitude dispersion (LAD), characteristic curve or dispersion fading
margin.
(1) Characteristic curve
Characteristic curve is restricted because the characteristic size expressed by
GHz must be known. Thus, in normal engineering design, it is not used.
(2) LAD
Advantage: normally, the dispersion interruption rate of MQAM system in the M

state can be estimated, which makes calculation easy and the transmission
database or characteristic curve actually tested unnecessary.
Amplitude dispersion interruption rate
Interruption caused by selective fading can be predicted by the possibility of the

LAD L inside the signal band exceeding the definite value L0. L is the receiving
power ratio of two frequency points with spacing Δf = f s inside the band. L0
is the LAD value related to the threshold bit error rate and it is defined by
equipment suppliers.
The empirical formula of interruption rate caused by selective fading is as
follows:
Pfr = 0.2 × PRe × Plo
PRe = KQf B d C
In the formula: Plo is the possibility of L>L0
PRe is the possibility of Rayleigh fading
Possibility of LAD being exceeded
Non-space diversity

(1 − 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ) 2
Plo = 1 −
(1 − 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ) 2 + 4 × (1 − R f ) × 10 ( L0 / 10 )
Space diversity
( )
8 ⎧⎪ 1 4 × (1 − R f ) × 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ⎫⎪
−1
Plo = ⎨ x0 1 − x0 0.5 − (1 − x0 ) + tan
2 2 2
⎬
π⎪ 4 (1 − 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ) 2 ⎪⎭
⎩
In the formula: x 0 = ( 1 + sin θ − )

1 − sin θ / 2
4 × (1 − R f ) × 10 ( L / 10 )
sin θ =
(1 − 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ) 2 + 4 × (1 − R f ) × 10 ( L / 10 )
Frequency correlation coefficient:
2πΔf 2πΔf
R f = cos( × Lm ) × exp(− × R1 ) 2
c c
In the formula:
Δf : Frequency spacing between f1 and f 2 .

C: Speed of light
Lm : Average value of the progressive error between direct wave and

interference wave
R1 : Standard deviation of the progressive error between direct wave and

interference wave
For the progressive error between direct wave and interference wave is a
random variable, empirical formulas of its average value Lm and standard
deviation R1 are as follows.
⎛ 34.47 × PM (4GHz )0.63 ⎞

R1 = k1 ⎜ ⎟ × exp⎛⎜ − 0.13 t ⎞⎟
⎜
⎝ 2 PM (FGHz ) ⎟
⎠ ⎝ d⎠
⎛ 28.25 × PM (4GHz ) ⎞ −0.4 −0.4

Lm = k1 ⎜⎜
PM (FGHz )
⎟⎟ × l min − l max( )
⎝ ⎠
( ) (cm)
1
−1.4 −
In the formula: l min = l max + 0.124 1.4
⎛ t⎞
l max = 1000 × PM (4GHz ) × exp⎜ − 0.45 × ⎟(cm )
0.43
⎝ d⎠

In the formula:
PM (4GHz ) : Possibility of Rayleigh fading of 4 GHz
PM (FGHz ) : Possibility of Rayleigh fading of F GHz
k1: it is decided by the distribution coefficient of the progressive error in the

terrestrial areas, normally, in mountain areas, k1 is 1–2, and on the sea or
coastal areas, it is 5–7
t: sea level elevation difference of two stations (m)
d: station distance (km)
Note:
¾ The maximum of t / d is 7.5
¾ For the improvement coefficient of frequency diversity to chromatic fading,

refer to the improvement coefficient of frequency diversity to the flat fading
or the empirical data provided by equipment suppliers
¾ Specific value of Δf is provided by equipment suppliers
For NEC SDH microwave equipment, L0 and Δf are as follows.

Modulation mode 64QAM 128QAM
L0 20.0 dB 18.0 dB
Δf 30.1 MHz 24.08 MHz
(3) Dispersion fading margin

Normally, the suppliers provide one or more dispersion fading margin of
equipment under one or more bit error rates. Because the dispersion fading
margin is provided by suppliers under certain conditions, the possibility RD of
selective fading occurring on the actual microwave path is as follows:
Microwave cross section Possibility (RD) of selective fading
Mountain area 0.5–1
Hilly area 3
Plain areas 5–7
Cross-sea circuits 9
To calculate circuit interruption rate based on dispersion fading margin,

combination fading margin is introduced. The formula is as follows.
(C / I )ri −(C / I )th

⎛ − 10
Fd F
− s n − ⎞
⎜
Fe = −10 lg 10 + RD 10 + ∑10
10 10 ⎟
⎜ ⎟
⎝ i =1 ⎠
Interruption rate of actual circuit (flat fading, selective fading and interference
are considered):
Fe
−
Pt = RD × KQf B d C 10 10
In calculating the improvement degree of space diversity and frequency

diversity, the combination fading margin is replaced by flat fading margin.
III. 6.3.4.3 Interruption Rate caused by Interference
For the radio-relay communication equipment that adopts two-frequency system,

in design, front and back interference and cross-station interference are mainly
considered in terms of the interference in the digital microwave channel.
Interruption rate caused by interference is expressed by:
n (C / I )ri − (C / I )th
−
Pi = KQf B d C ∑10 10
i =1
(C / I )ri = Pr 0 − Pri1
In the formula:
Pri1 , Pr 0 : Interference signal level and available signal level
(C / I )th : Threshold carrier interference ratio

IV. 6.3.4.4 Total Interruption Rate
Interruption rate is likely to occur during the fading; no matter it is flat fading,
frequency selective fading or fading caused by interference. Therefore, total
interruption rate is related to all the three fadings.
Pt = ξf ( Pfr , Ps , Pi )
In the formula:
Pt : Total interruption rate
Pfr : Interruption rate caused by flat fading
Ps : Interruption rate caused by frequency selective fading
Pi : Interruption rate caused by interference
ξ : coordinate effect coefficient, it is related to dispersion fading margin and flat

fading margin. When only one fading is effective, and another fading is
ineffective, that is, absolute value of the difference between dispersion fading
margin and flat fading margin is very large (for example, more than 20 dB), then
the coordinate effect coefficient is the minimum, ξ = 1 . When two fadings are
both equally effective, that is, the difference between two fading margin is 0, the
coordinate effect coefficient is the maximum, ξ is about 2.8.
If the interruption rates caused by flat fading, frequency selective fading and
interference are considered to be approximately independent from each other,
the total interruption rate is:
Pt = Pfr + Ps + Pi
6.3.5 Rain Fading
1. Overview
For frequency range higher than 10 GHz, rain is a quite important factor that
affects electric wave propagation. Rain not only absorbs electric wave energy,
but also diffracts electric wave. The absorption and diffraction together form
fading of the electric wave. Rain diffraction can also result in radio interference
in a large area. Therefore, reliable data is needed for both predicting electric
wave fading when planning and designing terrestrial and space radio systems,
and coordinating interference in the radio management. And of all the data,
raininess is especially important.
2. Rain Climatic Province Division and Raininess Isoline
Rain climatic province division is based on the raininess cumulative distribution,

mainly based on the raininess standard of 0.01% of the time.
Based on the third part of P.R. C. QB “Transmission Feature of Terrestrial
Mobile Service and Fixed Service”: rain climatic province division according to
line-of-sight microwave relay communication system transmission feature,
China is divided into 12 rain climatic provinces: A, B, D, E, F, G, H, J,
K, M, N and P. See the following table 6.2.
Table 6.2 China rain climatic province division
Area Standard Range

Sinkiang (Zhunge’er basin, Talimu basin). Tibet (Zangbei plateau). Inner Mongolia (Alashan plateau).
A 8
Qinghai (Chaidamu basin). Gansu (northern areas)
Tibet (Altai, Tienshan mountain, western mountain areas of Zhunge’er basin, western
B 12
side of Kunlun mountain)
Inner Mongolia (small part), Qinghai (large part), Tibet( southern areas), Gansu
D 19
(middle areas), Sichuan(Chuanxi plateau)
Gansu (southern part), Ningxia, Inner Mongolia (northern part of Yinshan
E 22
mountain chains, Xilinguole plateau)
Shanxi (northern part), Inner Mongolia (Daxinganling, Yinshan mountain
F 28
chains), Heilongjiang (northern part), Tibet (southeastern areas)
Inner Mongolia (northern side of Xianshan mountain chains), Shaan Xi
G 30 (Weihe plains), Jilin (northern mountain country), Heilongjiang (eastern
mountain country)
H 32 Shaan Xi (middle areas), Shanxi (southwestern areas)
Heilongjiang (partial areas), Jilin (partial areas), Shaan xi (Chinling mountain

J 35
areas and middle areas of Shaan Xi), Tibet (southeastern areas)
Heilongjiang (Xiaoxinganling), Jilin (western areas), Liaoning (northern areas),
Hebei (western areas and northern areas), Henan (mountain country), Hubei
K 42
(western mountain country), Sichuan (northern areas), Yunnan ( large part
of Yungui plateau), Beijing, Taiwan (western part)
Liaoning (southern part), Hebei (northern part), Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui,
Henan (large part), Hubei (large part), Hunan (large part), Jiangxi, Zhejiang,
M 63
Fujian, Guangdong (northern areas), Guangxi (northern areas), Guizhou, Sichuan
(Basin), Yunnan (part), Hainan island (western part), Taiwan (part), Tianjin, Shanghai
Taiwan (mountain country), Guangdong (southern areas), Guangxi (southern areas),
N 95 Tibet ( southeastern areas), Yunnan (southern areas), Hainan island (northern areas),
South China Sea islands
P 145 Guangxi (coastal areas)
3. Calculation of Rain Fading
Fading caused by rain is related to the possibility of raining. Fading caused by
the rain in p% of the time is calculated by:
A p = A0.01 × 0.12 P − ( −0.546+0.043 lg p )
A0.01 = VR × r × d
r = 1 /(1 + d / d 0 )
d 0 = 35e −0.15×R0.01
In the formula: Ap (dB): rain fading exceeding p% of the time in a year.

d (km): path length or horizontal projection length of the skewed path sunk in
rain zone.
r: path length reduction factor
R0.01 (mm/h): raininess of 0.01% of the time in a year exceeding one minute
VR (dB/km): rain fading rate exceeded of 0.01% of the time in a year. Following
is the rain fading rate of different rain zones under different frequencies and
polarization:
Table 6.3 Rain fading rate exceeded of 0.01% of the time (dB/km)
11G 13G 14G 15G 18G 23G
Rain zone 0.01% (mm/H)
V H V H V H V H V H V H
A 8 0.16 0.18 0.24 0.28 0.29 0.34 0.35 0.40 0.50 0.58 0.81 0.95
B 12 0.26 0.31 0.39 0.46 0.47 0.54 0.55 0.65 0.78 0.91 1.24 1.47
C 15 0.34 0.40 0.51 0.60 0.60 0.71 0.71 0.84 0.99 1.17 1.57 1.87
D 19 0.46 0.54 0.67 0.80 0.79 0.93 0.93 1.10 1.28 1.53 2.01 2.41
E 22 0.55 0.65 0.80 0.95 0.94 1.11 1.09 1.30 1.50 1.80 2.34 2.83
F 28 0.74 0.88 1.06 1.26 1.24 1.47 1.44 1.72 1.96 2.36 3.01 3.66
G 30 0.81 0.96 1.15 1.37 1.34 1.60 1.55 1.86 2.11 2.55 3.23 3.94
H 32 0.87 1.04 1.25 1.48 1.44 1.72 1.67 2.00 2.26 2.74 3.46 4.23
J 35 0.97 1.16 1.38 1.65 1.60 1.91 1.85 2.22 2.49 3.03 3.80 4.66
K 42 1.22 1.45 1.71 2.05 1.97 2.37 2.27 2.74 3.04 3.72 4.60 5.67
L 60 1.89 2.27 2.61 3.15 2.98 3.61 3.39 4.14 4.49 5.55 6.67 8.32
M 63 2.01 2.41 2.76 3.33 3.15 3.82 3.59 4.38 4.74 5.87 7.02 8.77
N 95 3.34 4.02 4.48 5.45 5.05 6.19 5.70 7.03 7.41 9.30 10.8 13.6
P 145 5.62 6.81 7.36 9.04 8.22 10.2 9.18 11.5 11.8 14.9 16.8 21.5
In the worst month, rain fading exceeded of pw% of the time can be calculated
by the previous formula. “p” is calculated by
1.16
p = 0.22 × p w
In actual engineering design, microwave frequency lower than 10GHz,

unavailability index caused by rain fading does not need to be considered.
6.3.6 Gas Absorption
Besides free space transmission loss, there are also oxygen and vapor
absorption loss in the line-of-sight path transmission.
Fading caused by gas absorption is calculated by:
L g = (r0 + rw )d
Lg
In the formula: : fading caused by gas absorption dB;
r0 , rw : ratio of the fading caused by oxygen and vapor dB/km;
⎡ 6.09 4.81 ⎤ 2
r0 = ⎢7.19 × 10 −3 + 2 + ⎥ f × 10
−3
⎣ f + 0 . 227 ( f − 57 ) 2
+ 1 . 50 ⎦
f < 57GHz
⎡ 3.6 10.6 8.9 ⎤

rw = ⎢0.05 + 0.021ρ + + + ⎥
⎣ ( f − 22.2)2 + 8.5 ( f − 183.3)2 + 9 ( f − 325.4)2 + 26.3 ⎦
• f 2 ρ ×10 −4 f < 350GHz
In the formula:
ρ : vapor density, g/m3.

Following table 6.4 displays the fading of different frequencies caused by gas
absorption per kilometer when the vapor density is ρ = 10 g / m .
3
Table 6.4 Gas absorption loss rate (dB/km)
Frequency band 8G 11G 13G 14G 15G 18G 23G 26G

Oxygen absorption loss rate 0.0067 0.0072 0.0077 0.0080 0.0083 0.0094 0.0121 0.0143
Vapor absorption rate 0.0057 0.0119 0.0186 0.0233 0.0295 0.0678 0.2462 0.1544
Gas absorption rate 0.0123 0.0191 0.0263 0.0313 0.0378 0.0772 0.2583 0.1688
Based on the table, when the microwave frequency is 18 GHz, gas absorption
loss is 0.0772dB/km. If the station distance is 10 km, the loss of a relay section
is 0.77 dB. Therefore, when microwave frequency band is less than 18 GHz,
compared with free space transmission loss, gas absorption loss can be
neglected.
z Have a think:
What do you learn from this chapter?
Calculation of microwave path parameter, including calculation of antenna
azimuth, path distance, elevation and minus angle, clearance, reflection point,
and antenna gain.
Calculation of microwave circuit indexes, including calculation of receiving level,
flat fading margin, interference level, and diversity receiving parameter.
6.4 Conclusion
This chapter mainly describes microwave engineering calculation in two
sections: the first is the calculation of microwave route and the second is the
calculation of microwave circuit index.
Chapter 7 Microwave Engineering Design

Requirement
z 　Objectives:
To understand the basic requirements for microwave path and cross section
design
To know the mounting height of microwave antenna
To learn how to choose microwave frequency band and configure polarization
To get familiar with the technical requirement of microwave engineering design.
7.1 Overview
Microwave engineering design includes selection of microwave path,
microwave antenna height, configuration of microwave frequency and
polarization, and selection of microwave antenna.
7.2 Basic Requirement of Microwave Path and

Cross-section Design
7.2.1 Cross Section and Station Distance
(1) Cross Section

Cross section of relay section of digital microwave relay communication system
can be classified into four types based on terrains, weather condition, antenna
height and electric wave propagation.
Type A:
The cross section consists of mountains, city buildings or combination of the two,
without wide valleys and lakes lying between. The equivalent ground reflection
coefficient of this cross section is less than 0.5, that is, the decrease of receiving
level caused by ground reflection wave is not more than 6 dB. At the same time,
if the cross section has no wide valley and lakes lying between and the gas is
dry; multi-path fading is unlikely caused by gas non-homogeneous layer. For
example, the cross section, in the area where reflection might be caused, with
dry weather and consisting of knife-edge mountains with fluctuations more than
20m, and the cross section of hilly areas, where the elevation angle of electrical
wave beam is larger than 0.5 and antennas at the two ends are quite different in
height, both belong to type A.
Type B
The cross section consists of hilly areas with tiny fluctuations, without wide
valleys and lakes lying between. The equivalent ground reflection coefficient of
this cross section is less than 0.7, that is, the decrease of receiving level caused
by ground reflection wave is less than 10 dB, and this coefficient cannot be
neglected. Though there are no wide valleys and lakes lying between and
weather is dry, due to tiny fluctuations, probability of multi-path fading caused by
gas non-homogeneous layer cannot be neglected. For example, cross section
with dry weather consisting of fluctuated hilly areas which may cause reflection,
and plains lines where the weather is dry and the heights of antennas are every
different, both belong to cross section of type B.
Type C
Cross section of type C consists of flat grounds and water reticulations, and it
refers to humid cross section with many flat grounds, water reticulations and
equal grounding reflectance not less than 0.7. For cross section of this type, due
to the grounding reflected wave, receiving level undergoes a decrease of more
than 10 dB. And because there are many water reticulations and the weather is
humid, multi-path fading caused by gas non-homogeneous layer is serious. For
example, flat ground lines, where the heights of the antennas are not so
different and equal grounding reflectance is more than 0.7, belong to cross
connection of type C.
Type D
Cross section of type D is cross-water circuits along coastal paths. Fading

caused by water reflection and gas non-homogeneous layer is more serious
than cross sections of type A, B and C. it is a very bad cross section seriously
affecting electric wave transmission stability.
In conclusion, the feature of cross section is mainly depending on the influence
of grounding reflection and gas non-homogeneous layer on the electric wave
transmission. The two factors result in multi-path transmission of electric wave
beams, cause frequency selective fading of the receiving signal level at the
receiving end, and they seriously affect digital microwave especially the digital
microwave system with higher capability and multiple level modulations. On one
hand, the two factors can give rise to waveform distortion to the digital signals
making BER deteriorate. On the other hand, they reduce polarization
discrimination and increase the inter-channel interference of the system.
Therefore, to ensure the transmission quality of digital signals, relay sections of
cross sections of type A and type B should be preferred and that of type C and
type D should be avoided.
In line design, for the bad cross section and relay sections that seriously affect
transmission quality, equalization measure and diversity receiving technology
should be adopted to overcome the influence of selective fading.
(2) Choosing Site Distance
The site distance of digital microwave relay communication lines should be

determined based on parameters of equipment, geographical conditions,
weather, antenna height, electric wave transmission and the technology
measure that is adopted.
For relay section with longer or shorted site distance, technology measure
should be adopted to ensure that the difference between the free space
receiving level that the receiver inputs and the nominal value is not more than
3 dB.
7.2.2 Clearance Standard
(1) For each relay section of SDH microwave relay communication line,
considering the range of equivalent earth radius coefficient K, there is
certain clearance between electric wave direct rays and the lower
obstacle. For single obstacles, the clearance of relay section should
meet the following requirements. Clearance of relay section of multiple
obstacles, the K should be Kmin, and the electric wave diffraction loss
introduced by the obstacles should be not more than 10 dB. If K=4/3,
when there is no fading, the receiving level should be not less than the
requirement of free space receiving level.
(2) For the relay section that adopts space diversity, path clearance of the main
antenna should comply with the following regulations: when path
clearance of the diversity antenna meets the requirement of K=Kmin,
the electric wave diffraction loss introduced by the obstacles should be
not more than 15 dB (for single or multiple obstacles).
(3) Besides meeting the following requirement for clearance, for microwave
relay section electric wave rays, the clearance of other sides within
d ≥ 17.1D 2 / λ should be not less than 3H 0 , within d ≤ 17.1D 2 / λ ,

the clearance value must meet the antenna headroom requirement. (D
is the antenna diameter, λ is working length, and H0 is free space
clearance)
Table 7.1 Standard for SDH Microwave Relay Section Clearance Range
K value
clearance Kmin 4/3 Description
Obstacle type
Knife-edge type H ≥0 H ≥ H0 K: equivalent earth radius coefficient
H 0 6m − 5 ≤ H Kmin: 0.1% of the statistical K value

Smooth ground and others H ≥ 0.5 H 0 H0: free space clearance
≤ H 0 6m − 1
(Note)
Note: m=1, 2, 3…, is the number of interference lobe. When K=Kmin, m

should be the minimum if possible to avoid the antenna working at lobe of
high-order when K=4/3.
7.2.3 Antenna Height and Space Diversity Distance
I. Principles of Selecting Antenna Height
(1) The antenna height should meet the requirement of relay section clearance
standard and antenna headroom. For specific requirement, see the
following figure. (In the figure, D is the radius of the antenna, λ is the
working length).
20°
1m
D
H
20°
1m
10D
D2
L=17.1 λ
Figure 7.1 Antenna headroom requirements
(2) Ensure that the antenna height can control the reflection point of the electric
wave beam from falling onto the water surface and the area with large
reflection coefficient. And at the same time, the difference between the
altitudes of the transmitting and receiving antennas should be larger if
possible to reduce the influence of the K fading and channel fading.
II. Principles of Selecting Space Diversity Distance
Space diversity receiving is effective to overcome the influence of electric wave

fading.
The principles of determining the distance between diversity receiving antennas

are:
(1) For the smooth ground path with grounding reflection coefficient not less
than 0.5, overcome K fading
(2) For mountains areas and largely fluctuated ground with grounding
reflection coefficient not more than 0.5, overcome channel fading.
In digital microwave engineering design, diversity distance can be adjusted in

the range of 200λ—300λ, that is, distance between the diversity antennas can
be 8 to 12 m.
7.3 Selecting Microwave Band and Configuring Polarization
7.3.1 Selecting Microwave Band
In selecting microwave band, system transmission capacity, communication

network plan, the status quo of the communication lines already built and the
local conditions should be considered.
Basic principles of selecting microwave band:
(1) For PDH microwave circuit of long site distance (generally longer than 15
km), 8 GHz frequency is recommended. If the site distance is not more than 25
km, 11 GHz frequency is recommended. Frequencies should be determined
based on local weather condition and microwave transmission cross section.
(2) For PDH microwave circuit of short site distance (generally the access layer,
within 10 km), frequencies of 11GHz, 13GHz, 14GHz, 15GHz and 18GHz can
be adopted.
(3) For SDH microwave circuit with long site distance (generally longer than 15
km), frequencies of 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 7 GHz and 8 GHz are recommended. If the
site distance is not more than 20 km, frequency of 11 GHz is optional.

Frequencies should be chosen based on the local weather and microwave
transmission cross section.
7.3.2 Arrangement of Microwave Frequency and Polarization
I. Factors should be considered in frequency arrangement
Microwave frequency arrangement involves transmitting and receiving

frequencies of all channels. The basic principle of selecting frequency
arrangement method is to minimize interference in the system and maximize
frequency spectrum utilization. Following factors should be considered.
¾ In a middle station, a unidirectional channel should use different

frequencies with enough spacing to receive and transmit signals, to avoid
that signals transmitted from this station are received by this station and
prevent normal signals received from being interfered.
¾ When many channels work at the same time, frequencies of the adjacent
channels must have enough spacing to avoid mutual interference.
¾ The arrangement of the entire frequency spectrum must be compact to

make the designated communication frequency can be economically used.
¾ For the construction of microwave antenna tower cost too much, system
with multiple channels should use the same antenna.
II. Frequency Arrangement Method
(1) Two-frequency system and four-frequency system
Two-frequency system: the transmitting frequencies of each middle station in

the two directions are the same, and so are the receiving frequencies. But
transmitting frequency and receiving frequency changes station by station.
Advantages: narrow frequency band occupied; high frequency spectrum
utilization. Disadvantages: the transmitter of a direction can receive
co-frequency interference signal from the opposite direction and the antenna
should be highly defensive towards the opposite direction to reduce signals
from the opposite direction attenuated 65–75dB or more than the signals from
right ahead. If the system has ATPC function, requirement for the antenna can
be lowered.
Four-frequency system: each middle station uses four frequencies to receive
and transmit signals, thus, four-frequency system is not troubled by opposite
receiving interference and the antenna can be less defensive towards the
opposite direction. But four-frequency system occupies frequency band one
time wider than two-frequency system.
Another co-frequency interference, that is, cross-station interference, may occur

to the two systems. To avoid cross-station interference, the site positions must
be zigzag-shaped when designing the lines.
Following figure shows frequency arrangements of two-frequency and
four-frequency systems.
Figure 7.2 frequency arrangements of two-frequency and four-frequency

systems
Two-frequency system, four-frequency system
(2) High Station and Low Station
Based on the feature that the transmitting and receiving frequencies change
station by station, there are two types of stations on the microwave line: one is
the station that the receiving frequency is higher than transmitting frequency,
called “high” station. The other is the station that the receiving frequency is
lower than transmitting frequency, called “low” station. High/low station is named
based on the receiving frequency.
Figure 7.3 High and low stations
High station, low station
III. Principles of Microwave frequency and Polarization Arrangements
(1) Digital microwave equipment of the same frequency band should be

consistent in the station type when they are co-located, and that of different
frequencies can be either consistent or inconsistent in the station type when
they are co-located.
(2) Microwave system of access layer
a) When microwave equipment is co-located: frequency arrangement should

adopt four-frequency system, mainly for the sake of frequency
arrangement. If two-frequency system is adopted, high-performance
antenna should be used.
b) When microwave equipment is co-located: if they use adjacent frequencies

and the separation angle is less than 20°, the polarization should be
reverse.
c) For long-haul microwave system with high frequency more than 10 GHz,
vertical polarization should be preferred.
d) Cross-station interference should be considered in the arrangements of

frequency and polarization.
(3) Microwave system of backbone layer
a) Frequency arrangement should adopt two-frequency system
b) Microwave circuit should be zigzag arranged if possible to avoid

cross-station interference.
When the deflecting angle of the middle station is 80°≤Φ< 135°, two directions
can be in the same channel, but the polarization should be opposite.
When the deflecting angle of the middle station is 135°≤Φ≤180°, two directions
can be in the same channel and with same polarization.
When the deflecting angle of the middle station is Φ< 80°, two directions cannot
be in the same channel, one should be even and other should be odd, but the
polarization can be the same.
When the deflecting angle of the middle station is Φ< 20°, two directions cannot
work in the same channel, one should be odd and the other should be even.
The polarization should be opposite.
c) Typical polarization arrangement methods are as follows:
Alternate polarization every hop, which can reduce the ante-dorsal interference
of the antenna.
Alternate polarization every other hop, which can reduce cross-station
interference.
7.4 Technical Requirement of Digital Microwave Relay

Communication Engineering Design
7.4.1 PDH Microwave Engineering Design Technical Requirement
I. Assumed reference channel of digital microwave relay

communication system
(1) Advanced assumed reference digital channel of microwave relay

communication system, used to transmit digital microwave relay larger than
secondary group, 2500 km long.
(2) Intermediate assumed reference digital channel of microwave relay

(3) User-level assumed reference digital channel of microwave relay

(4) Advanced digital microwave channel is used between level-2 and higher toll
exchange centers. Intermediate digital microwave channel is used between
level-2 exchange center and local exchange center. User-level digital
microwave channel is used to the relay line between local network terminal
office and users.
II. Bit Error Performance Index of Digital Microwave Relay

Communication System
(1) Considering fading inside the system, interference and other bad factors,
bit error performance of the 64kbit/s output end of the advanced
assumed reference digital channel should meet the following
requirements:
¾
In any month, in 0.4% or more of the total time, average bit error rate of one
minute should be not more than 1*10-6
¾
In any month, in 0.054 % or more of the total time, average bit error rate of
one second should be not more than 1*10-3
¾
In any month, total time of the bit error should be not more than 0.32% of
the entire month.
bit error performance of the 64kbit/s output end of the intermediate
requirements:
¾
¾
¾
In any month, total time of the bit error should be not more than 1.2% of the
entire month.
bit error performance of the 64kbit/s output end of the user-level
requirements:
¾
¾
¾
In any month, total time of the bit error should be not more than 1.2% of the
entire month.
III. When there is only one transport method of digital microwave

channel, those indexes are applicable.
(4) Assumed reference digital section of 5 or 280 km, based on different types,
considering fading inside the system, interference and other bad
factors, bit error performance of the 64kbit/s output end should meet
the following requirement.
Table 7.2 Assumed reference digital section bit error performance index
Assumed
Bit error rate Bit error rate larger
reference digital Length Residual bit error
larger than 1×10-6 than 1×10-3 Bit error rate
section type rate
(Km)
(minute) (second)
Type 1 280 0.045% 0.006% 0.036% 5.6×10-10

Type 2 280 0.2% 0.0075% 0.16% 2.5×10-9
Type 3 50 0.2% 0.002% 0.16% 2.5×10-9
Type 4 50 0.55% 0.005% 0.4% 6×10-10
Note: assumed reference digital section of type 1 is suitable to

constitute advanced assumed reference digital channel of 2500 km, type 2,
between advanced and intermediate circuits, type 3 and 4, between
intermediate and user-level circuits.
(5) For advanced actual digital microwave channel with the circuit length L not
less than 280 km, and the intermediate actual digital microwave
channel with circuit length L larger than two digital sections, based on
the difference of circuit structure between actual and assumed digital
microwave channel, considering fading inside the system, interference
and other bad factors, bit error performance of the 64kbit/s output end
should meet the following requirements. (For advanced actual digital
microwave channel with circuit length less than 280 km, the bit error
performance indexes are as same as that with length of 280 km.)
Table 7.3 Advanced and intermediate actual digital microwave

channel bit error performance index
Channel quality level
Time percentage of the entire month (%) Advanced circuit Intermediate circuit
Bit error performance item

Degrading score with bit error ratio larger than 1×10-6 ≤0.4L/2500 ≤1.5L/1250
SES with bit error ratio larger than 1×10-3 (second) ≤0.054L/2500 ≤0.04L/1250
Bit error rate ≤0.32L/2500 ≤1.2L/1250
Residual bit error rate ≤5×10-9L/2500 ≤1.8×10-8L/1250
(6) When the length of user-level actual digital microwave channel, L, is larger
than 50 km, for error rate performance index, refer to that of L=50 km.
(7) When the length of actual digital microwave channel of type 2, 3 and 4 is
not more than two digital sections, and the digital section length L and
the length of assumed reference digital section L0 of relevant type has
the following relation: “n L0< L< (n+1) L0”, the bit error performance of
64kbit/s output end, should be n+1 times of that of the assumed
reference section of relevant type.
IV. Unavailability index of microwave relay communication system
(1) The unavailability index of advanced assumed reference digital microwave

channel (bidirectional), in any year, should be not more than 0.3%, among this,
caused by propagation is 1/3.
(2) The unavailability index of intermediate assumed reference digital

microwave channel (bidirectional), in any year, should be not more than
0.2%–0.5%, among this, that caused by propagation is 1/3.
(3) The unavailability index of user-level assumed reference digital microwave
channel (bidirectional), in any year, should be not more than 0.08%–1%, among
this, that caused by propagation is 1/3.
(4) For principles of unavailability index of actual circuit, make linear distribution
based on circuit length.
(5) Unavailability index of assumed reference digital section (bidirectional)
should meet the following requirement.
Table 7.4 Unavailability index of assumed reference digital section
Digital section type Unavailability index (bidirectional)

Type 1 (280 Km) 0.033%
Type 2 (280 Km) 0.05%
Type 3 (50 Km) 0.05%
Type 4 (50 Km) 0.1%
7.4.2 SDH Microwave Engineering Design Technical Requirement
I. SDH Microwave Relay Communication System Assumed Reference

Channel
(1) Connecting length of international circuit of national L1 backbone line that

uses microwave relay with transmission basic group and higher constant bit rate
is 5000 km.
(2) For the SDH microwave relay communication system with each IF channel
at transmission basic group and higher constant bit rate, based on its position in
the network, can be classified into inter-provincial backbone, provincial
backbone, local network and access network.
(3) Inter-provincial backbone is used between toll exchange centers and

between exchange center and international interface office. Provincial
backbone connects provincial toll exchange center. Local network is used to
connect local network terminal office (or transit exchange) and toll exchange
center. Access network is used to connect user to local network terminal office
(or transit exchange).
II. Bit Error Performance Index of SDH Microwave Relay

Communication System
error performance index of inter-provincial backbone channel, in any direction
and any month, should not exceed the following standard value.
Table7.5 bit error performance index of inter-provincial backbone channel
Channel rate >15000– >55000– >160000–
1500–5000
(Kbit/s) 55000 160000 3500000
Bits/block 2000–8000 4000–20000 6000–20000 15000–30000
ESR 0.04×A 0.075×A 0.16×A (to be defined)
SESR 0.002×A 0.002×A 0.002×A 0.002×A
BBER 2×10-4×A 2×10-4×A 2×10-4×A 2×10-4×A
In the table: A=6%×L/5000 L: actual length of the circuit
error performance index of provincial backbone channel, in any direction and
any month, should not exceed the following standard value.
Table7.6 bit error performance index of provincial backbone channel
Channel rate >15000– >55000– >160000–
1500–5000
(Kbit/s) 55000 160000 3500000
Bits/block 2000–8000 4000–20000 6000–20000 15000–30000
ESR 0.04×B 0.075×B 0.16×B (to be defined)
SESR 0.002×B 0.002×B 0.002×B 0.002×B
BBER 2×10-4×B 2×10-4×B 2×10-4×B 10-4×B
In the table: B=2.5%+1%×L/500 L: actual length of the circuit
error performance index of local network channel, in any direction and any
month, should not exceed the following standard value.
Table7.7 bit error performance index of local network channel
Channel rate >15000– >55000– >160000–
1500–5000
(Kbit/s) 55000 160000 3500000
Bits/block 2000–8000 4000–20000 6000–20000 15000–30000
ESR 0.04×C 0.075×C 0.16×C (to be defined)
SESR 0.002×C 0.002×C 0.002×C 0.002×C
BBER 2×10-4×C 2×10-4×C 2×10-4×C 10-4×C
In the table: C=5%
error performance index of access network, in any direction and any month,
should not exceed the following standard value.
Table7.8 bit error performance index of access network channel
Channel rate >15000– >55000– >160000–
1500–5000
(Kbit/s) 55000 160000 3500000
Bits/block 2000–8000 4000–20000 6000–20000 15000–30000
ESR 0.04×D 0.075×D 0.16×D (待定)
SESR 0.002×D 0.002×D 0.002×D 0.002×D
BBER 2×10-4×D 2×10-4×D 2×10-4×D 10-4×D
In the table: D=8%
(5) For inter-provincial and provincial backbones, actual bit error performance
design index should be distributed in direct proportion based on actual channel
length by referencing the standard value in the previous table.
III. Unavailability Index of SDH Microwave Relay Communication

System
(1) Unavailability index of toll assumed reference digital channel, in any year,
should not exceed 0.06% in every 500 km, and that caused by propagation
occupies 1/3.
(2) Unavailability index of actual circuit is linearly distributed based on circuit

length.
7.4.3 Access Network Technical Requirement—26 GHz Local Multiple-point

Distribution System (LMDS)
Based on PRC communication industry standard (YD/T1186-2002) “Access

Network Technical Requirement—26 GHz Local Multiple-point Distribution
System (LMDS)”
(1) Bit error performance index:
1) Bit error performance
¾ Bit error performance of Nx64 Kbit/s digital connection
Between the SNI and UNI of LMDS fixed radio access system, bit error
performance of digital connection should meet requirements in the following
table.
Table 7.9 Bit error performance index of Nx64 Kbit/s digital connection
Rate ESR SESR

Nx64kbit/s 1.2×10-2 1.5×10-4
¾ Bit error performance of 2048 Kbit/s channel
As to high bit rate channel, when radio access is used in the access network,
the total bit error performance indexes should reach 7.5% of all the indexes of
27,500 km.
Between the SNI and UNI of LMDS fixed radio access system, bit error
performance of 2048 Kbit/s digital connection should meet requirements in the
following table.
Table 7.10 Bit error performance index of 2048 Kbit/s digital connection
Rate ESR SESR BBER Equivalent BER
2048kbit/s 3.0×10-3 1.5×10-4 1.5×10-5 1.46×10-9
(2) Availability Index
¾ Intermediate quality requirement, annual availability: 99.8%
¾ Advanced quality requirement, annual availability: 99.99%
7.4.4 Access Network Technical Requirement—3.5 GHz Fixed Radio

Access
Based on PRC communication industry standard (YD/T11586-2001) “Access

Network Technical Requirement—3.5 GHz Fixed Radio Access”
(1) Bit error performance index:
1) Bit error performance
¾ Bit error performance of Nx64 Kbit/s digital connection
Between the SNI and UNI of 3.5G fixed radio access system, bit error
performance of Nx64 Kbit/s digital connection should meet requirements in the
following table.
Table 7.11 Bit error performance index of Nx64 Kbit/s digital connection
Rate ESR SESR

Nx64kbit/s 1.2×10-2 1.5×10-4
¾ Bit error performance of 2048 Kbit/s channel
As to high bit rate channel, when radio access is used in the access network,
the total bit error performance indexes should reach 7.5% of all the indexes of
27,500 km.
Between the SNI and UNI of 3.5 G fixed radio access system, bit error
performance of 2048 Kbit/s digital connection should meet requirements in the
following table.
Table 7.12 Bit error performance index of 2048 Kbit/s digital connection
Rate ESR SESR BBER Equivalent BER

2048kbit/s 3.0×10-3 1.5×10-4 1.5×10-5 1.46×10-9
(2) Availability Index
¾ Intermediate quality requirement, annual availability: 99.9%
¾ Advanced quality requirement, annual availability: 99.99%
Have a think
1. Basic requirements of microwave engineering route and cross section design
2. Microwave frequency band selection and polarization arrangement
3. Technical requirement of digital microwave relay communication engineering

design
7.5 Conclusion
This chapter mainly describes microwave engineering design requirement in
three parts: first part is about the basic requirements of microwave engineering
route and cross section design, second part is about microwave frequency band
selection and polarization arrangement, and the third part describes technical
requirement of digital microwave relay communication engineering design.
Chapter 8 Microwave Engineering Design

z 　 Objectives:
To master the methods of microwave engineering design
To understand actual practices of microwave engineering design
8.1 Design Method
8.1.1 Overview
Digital microwave relay line engineering design mainly includes three aspects:
¾ Selecting route, determining antenna height, clearance and calculating

receiving level
¾ Determining frequency arrangement and polarization
¾ Evaluating the performance of circuit
8.1.2 Route, Site and Antenna Height
I. 8.1.2.1. Route Selection and Technical Requirements
Principles of selecting route:
(1) Based on the features of line-of-sight microwave system, the distance

between two sites must be within the line of sight.
(2) Avoid water surface and flat wide area, to prevent deep fading caused by
strong reflection of the water surface and the ground. If possible, select
fluctuated cross sections as the routes, and make full use of the terrains.
(3) If areas with strong reflection cannot be avoided, make antenna of one end
highly mounted and the other lowly mounted, and the reflection point can fall on
the low end. Note: use obstacles to prevent reflection waves.
(4) To ensure reliable communication, site distance should not be too long. For
microwave system with 6–8GH, control it between 30 km and 50 km. Specific
distance should be based on actual cross section.
(5) For microwave backbone adopts two-frequency system, try to avoid
cross-station interference, and the circuit should be zigzag arranged.
(6) Route selection should be based on the construction scheme of
transmission network, and suggestions of construction organization and the
existing siting (site position) should be considered.
Principles of selecting site:
(1) The site should be located at the place where the transportation is
convenient and reliable power supply is available, rather than the place that is
too remote or isolated.
(2) Environment around the site should be safe. You must not locate the site at
potential mineral mountain areas, ancient relics and flood-beaten areas.
(3) The site should be located at the place where the soil is homogeneous
rather than fault areas, edge of earth slope, ancient watercourse and places
with potential land slip and slide. For earthquake-sensitive areas, locate the site
at the place favorable against earthquake.
(4) Environment of the site should be quiet. The site should not be located at the
place that near industrial factories which emanates harmful gases, dust, smog
and other hazardous substances.
(5) Site should meet the requirements of communication security, and firefight.
Methods of selecting routes
(1) Indoor line selection
The major task of indoor line selection is to provide route scheme by drawing a
map, to guide on-site survey.
¾ On a map (written or electronic) of 1/500000, determine the general layout

of the circuit and the possible positions of adding/dropping circuits.
¾ On a military map of 1/50000, from one terminal station to another terminal

station, determine the site of teach middle station by carefully calculation
and then draw a complete circuit.
¾ List the basic data of each station and each relay section, draw landform
profile, calculate the antenna heights of each station and check electric
wave propagation, and then determine the tower height.
¾ Select two or more routes, technically and economically compare the

routes in an overall view, and then determine the optimal route. For each
site, two optional places should be provided, and then engineers can
choose during on-site survey.
(2) On-site inspection and survey

In survey, check the transportation, living condition, geological condition,
weather condition of the entire line; check whether the actual layout is
contradictory to the map, and whether the local construction plan is
contradictory to the site plan. Based on these materials, review the indoor line
selection which may lay the basis for next design task.
After the survey is done, electrical test is always conducted, but it is not
indispensable. According to the previous experience accumulated in similar line
design, if new line cannot be estimated, electrical test should be conducted.
Finally, compare the microwave route schemes and make a decision: first check
whether the scheme meet technical requirements, second, whether the scheme
can assure available living conditions and convenient maintenance. If schemes
are up to these two premises, economically compare the schemes in an overall
view: total investment, quantity of all the stations on the line, stations that need
independent power supply rather than that from city, total tower height, length of
the route, length of the cable, and then make the optimal scheme.
II. 8.1.2.2. Determining Antenna Height
Based on the route and sites determined, determine the antenna mounting
height by calculating the clearance. If space diversity is adopted, the mounting
height of primary antenna and diversity antenna should be determined.
Principles of determining antenna mounting height:
(1) Antenna mounting height should meet the clearance requirement and there
should be no obstacles near the antenna (draw the profile and calculate the
clearance).
(2) For cross section of C and D types, make sure that he reflection point does
not fall on the water surface or areas with larger reflectance or the reflected
wave can be prevented by obstacles.
(3) Enlarge the height difference between the receiving and transmitting
antennas, which may be helpful to reduce K-shape fading and channel-shape
fading.
(4) Height of antennas in microwave relay section should be arranged in a
“high—low—high—low” order.
(5) If conditions are satisfied, microwave antenna should be lowly mounted to
save the cost.
8.1.3 Frequency Selection and Polarization Arrangement
Principles of frequency selection and polarization arrangement: make full use of

existing frequency resources, and reduce possible RF interference of the
system.
There are three solutions for RF channel configuration in actual engineering
design. See the following figures.
XS DS
1 3 1' 3'
V(H)
H(V)
2 n
XS 4 YS 2' 4'
n' ZS
(a)交替波道配置方案
XS DS
1 2 3 4 n 1' 2' 3' 4' n'
V(H)
H(V)
1r 2r 3r 4r nr 1'r 2'r 3'r 4'r n'r
YS ZS
(b)同波道方式频带复用方案
XS DS
1 2 3 4 n 1' 2' 3' 4' n'
V(H)
H(V) n'r
1r XS 2r 3r 4r nr 1'r 2'r 3'r 4'r
YS ZS
(c)交插方式频带复用方案
Figure 8.1 Three solutions of RF channel configuration
Alternate channel configuration solution, co-channel band multiplex solution, cross band multiplex solution
In figure 8.1, meanings if symbols are as follows:

XS (MHz): on the same polarization and in the same transmission direction,
frequency spacing between center frequencies of adjacent RF channels
YS (MHz): frequency spacing between center frequencies of nearest coming

and outgoing RF channels.
ZS (MHz): frequency spacing between the center frequency of the outmost RF
channel and frequency band edge. When the upper and lower spacings are
different, ZS1 is called lower frequency spacing, and ZS2 is called upper
frequency spacing.
DS (MHz): frequency spacing between the center frequencies (such as fn and
fn′ ) of each pair of coming and outgoing RF channels.
8.1.4 Circuit Performance Estimate
There are two ways to estimate digital microwave line performance: one is
based on unavailability degree, estimate the unavailability degree of the
transmission system caused by propagation fading, equipment and power
supply fault. Compare the estimate result with defined value to determine
whether system design can meet the requirement. For the estimate result of the
unavailability degree caused by equipment, power supply fault is relatively large;
it is not used in engineering design. The other is to determine whether
interruption rate meet the index requirement based on severe error second
(SES) or severe error second ratio (SESR). The interruption rate of the system
only needs to consider the influence of electric wave propagation fading.
Following introduces the second method of estimate.
(1) Estimate receiving level based on transmitting power, propagation loss, and
antenna gain. Calculate fading margin based on receiving level and receiving
threshold level.
(2) Estimate transmission system interruption rate based on fading margin,
frequency diversity, space diversity and selective fading margin, and determine
whether it matches the index requirement of SES/SESR.
Determining threshold level:
(1) For PDH microwave, bit error performance parameter is established based
on BER and the index system of setting second as the basic measurement
spacing. Therefore, in engineering design, you only need to predict the
-3
possibility of SESR with bit error ratio exceeding 10 (that is, calculation of
interruption rate described in 2.2.4)
(2) For SDH microwave, the error performance parameter is established based
on blocks and block is set as the basic measurement spacing for index system.
The requirement of block is higher than BER; therefore, in engineering design,
to predict the possibility of SEBS, you need to predict the possibility of BER
exceeding 10-5–10-4 of SESR.
Comparison between Calculation and Target Value:
In actual engineering design, fading caused by gas absorption is not considered

and it is considered to be approximately flat fading. Frequency selective fading
and the interruption rate caused by interference are independent of each other
(that is, coordinate effect coefficient ξ = 1 ). At the same time, considered the
difference between actual receiving level and theoretically calculated receiving
level, normally, the circuit interruption rate predicted should be 7–10dB less that
the target value, that is, 5 to 10 times. Specific times should be based on cross
section.
8.2 Design Example
8.2.1 SDH Microwave Circuit
I. 8.2.1.1 Route Selection
A is an sea island subject to B, the distance between A and B is 58km, crossing

over the sea. In a project, a hop of SDH microwave is to be established to
facilitate the transmission of A. Considering that B is too far way from A, for the
sake of microwave transmission quality, another route is needed rather than
A—B.
Following is a map about the location of A and B.
Yandun Hill
Wansong Hill Ruian
Figure 8.2 location of A, B and C
A：Beilu B：Wansong Hill,Ruian C：Yandun Hill
From the map, you can see the nearest place to A is C, and the distance
between A and C is 25km. Microwave transmission quality can be assured in
the route A—C. therefore, route A—C is chosen. The cross section of
microwave transmission is type D.
II. 8.2.1.2 Determining the Site
Known conditions:
(1) There is a microwave site at C with a microwave tower 40m high. The
latitude and longitude of the C are: east longitude is 121°07'31.4'', north latitude
is 27°50'23.5'', and the altitude is 220m.
(2) From the military map of 1/50000, you can see that on the line from A to C,
3km away from A, there is a small island with altitude of 60m.
Determining the site:
(1) Select the site based on the map, and requirements for the site are as
follows:
¾ Microwave route crosses the small island with the altitude of 60m and 3 km
away from B.
¾ Ensure that the reflected wave can be prevented by the island (note that the
altitude of this point should be controlled at about 60—80m).
¾ Due consideration should be excised for the microwave to be established in

other directions when initially choosing the site.
(2) On-Site Survey:
The objective of on-site survey is to check whether transportation of the site is

convenient and whether the place is suitable to establish site.
(3) Electrical Test
The objective of electrical test is to check whether the site meet design
requirement, that is, whether the receiving level of electrical test is consistent
with the receiving level in theory, and whether the reflected wave is prevented
(whether the receiving level fluctuate).
These three steps are can be circulated to verify the site.
(4) Determine the site:
Finally, the microwave site of A is determined to be: east longitude 121°11'59.6'',

north latitude 27°37'22.5'', altitude 74 m. Specific site is as follows:
Figure 8.3 Site map
A：Beilu island D：Beilong direction C：Dongtou direction
small island with altitude of 60m
Note: initially two sites are selected; see the two five-pointed stars on figure 8.3.
Based on on-site survey and electrical test, the two sites both meet the
requirements. Considering that microwave may be established from A to D, from
the black five-pointed star to D, microwave needs to cross an island of 120m
high but the altitude of the black five-pointed star is only 80m. If choosing the
place that the black five-pointed star shows, a tower of 60m needs to be built,
which may need large investment. While from the place that the red five-pointed
star shows to D, microwave only needs to cross an island of 70m, which does
not need high tower and saves the cost. Therefore, the place that the red
five-pointed star shows is selected as the microwave site.
III. 8.2.1.3 Determining Antenna Mounting Height
Known conditions:
(1) From the military map of 1/50000, find there are two obstacles from A to C.
the first obstacle is 75m above the sea level and 280m away from the
microwave site of A. and the second obstacle is 52m above the sea level,
3.75km away from the microwave site of A.
(2) The caliber of microwave antenna is 2m, the frequency band of microwave is
6G (U), and that is, the center frequency is 6.775 GHz.
(3) Microwave antenna mounting height of C is 32/22m.
(4) Site of C: east longitude is 121°07'31.4'', north latitude is 27°50'23.5'', and

altitude is 220m. Site of A: east longitude is 121°11'59.6'', north latitude is
27°37'22.5'' and altitude is 25.21km.
Calculation:
(1) Calculation of antenna near zone
1. Requirement for the headroom length of the antenna near zone
Headroom length of antenna near zone:

2 2
D 2
L0 = 17.1 = 17.1 × = 1544.7(m)
λ 0.3 / 6.775
2. Requirement for the headroom height of the antenna near zone.
Headroom height of antenna near zone:
d 0 = D / 2 + 10 × D × tg (20 ) = 8.28(m)
0
(2) Calculation of Antenna Height of A
1. Based on the previous calculation, the first obstacle is located at the near
zone of antenna, and the mounting height should meet near-zone
headroom requirement.
Microwave antenna minimum mounting height:

H 0 = 8.28 + (75 − 74) = 9.28(m)
According to the antenna near-zone headroom requirement, the antenna

mounting height should not be less than 10m.
2. For the second obstacle is located at antenna far-zone, antenna mounting

H ≥ H0 ,
height should meet the clearance standard. That is, when k=4/3,
and when k=2/3, H ≥ 0 .
Antenna mounting height of A should be 10m.
λd 1 d 2 F1
Free space clearance: H 0 = 18.26 = = 0.577 F1 = 6.86(m)
d 3
Projection height of the obstacle:
d1 d 2
k=4/3: he = = 4.74(m)
2kR0
d1 d 2
k=2/3: he = = 9.47(m)
2kR0
Clearance:
(h1 + H 1 )d 2 + (h2 + H 2 )d1

k=4/3: hce = − H 3 − he = 52.26(m)
d
(h1 + H 1 )d 2 + (h2 + H 2 )d1
k=2/3: hce = − H 3 − he = 47.52(m)
d
Based on calculation, microwave antenna mounting height meets clearance
requirement. For the microwave of this hop is cross-sea microwave, site
distance is very long, therefore, space diversity is adopted and diversity spacing
is 10m. Antenna heights of the two stations are determined as follows:
Antenna height of C is 32/22m and that of A is 20/10m.
(3) Calculation of Reflection Point
Based on the formula in section 6.2.6, when k=4/3, the distance between the
reflection point and A is 7.09 km (antenna height of C is 32m and that of A is
20m).
Projection height of the obstacle:
d1d 2
k=4/3: he = = 0.74(m)
2kR0
Clearance:
(h1 + H 1 )d 2 + (h2 + H 2 )d1

k=4/3: hce = − H 3 − he = −8.43(m)
d
For reflected wave clearance calculated is a negative value, the reflected
wave is prevented by the small island.
(4) Microwave Route Parameter Calculation List
Table 8.1 C—A Microwave route technical parameter list
No. Site name A C

East longitude 121°11'59.6'' 121°07'31.4''
1 Position
North latitude 27°37'22.5'' 27°50'23.5''
No. Site name A C

2 County Pingyang Dongtou
3 Altitude (m) 74 220
4 Relative mounting height of the primary antenna (m) 20 32
5 Relative mounting height of the secondary antenna (m) 10 22
6 Altitude of the primary antenna (m) 94 252
7 Site distance (km) 25.21
8 Communication azimuth (direct north) 343°06'49'' 163°04'44''
9 Minus/elevation angle of the primary antenna 0°16'26'' -0°26'39''
10 Minus/elevation angle of the secondary antenna 0°17'48'' -0°25'17''
11 Frequency band (GHz) 6.775
12 Reflection point (K=4/3) 7.09
13 Altitude of the obstacle (m) 52.0
14 Position of the obstacle: d1(km) 3.75
15 F1(m) 11.89
Clearance (m) 60.77
16 K=4/3 primary antenna
Relative clearance 5.11
K=4/3 diversity antenna Clearance (m) 59.28
17
(C) Relative clearance 4.99
18
(A) Relative clearance 4.40
Clearance (m) 56.03
19 K=2/3 primary antenna
Relative clearance 4.71
20
(C) Relative clearance 4.59
21
(A) Relative clearance 4.00
(5) Microwave Profile
Figure 8.4 C—A microwave profile
IV. 8.2.1.4 Calculation of Circuit Index
Interruption rate of this microwave circuit selective fading is calculated by linear

amplitude dispersion.
Known conditions:
(1) Microwave working center frequency is 6.775 GHz, site distance is 25.14 km,
and the cross section type is type.
(2) Microwave equipment configuration is 1+1, space diversity is adopted and

the transmission capacity is STM-1.
(3) Microwave transmitting power is 32 dBm, tributary system loss is 5.5 db and
the receiving threshold is -73.5 dBm.
(4) Φ2.0m microwave antenna gain is 40.5 db, and total loss of the feeder line is
4.42 db.
Calculation:
(1) Calculation of free space transmission loss
L f = 92.44 + 20 lg[d (km )] + 20 lg[ f (GHz )] = 92.44 + 20 lg 6.775 + 20 lg 25.21 = 137.10(dB)

(2) Free space receiving level
Pro = Pt + (Gt + Gr ) − ( Lt + Lr ) − LBr − L f = 32 + 2 × 40.5 − 4.42 − 5.5 − 137.10 = −34(dBm)

(3) Flat fading margin
Fd = Pro − Pth = −34 − (−73.5) = 39.5(dB)

(4) Calculation of diversity improvement degree
Free space diversity
39.5
I sd = 1.2 S 2
( f d ) × 10 −3
× 10 ( Fd − v ) 10
= 0.0012 × 10 × 6.775 / 25.14 × 10
2 10
= 286.82
In actual engineering design, maximum free space diversity improvement

degree is 200.
Frequency diversity
39.5
80 Δf 80 0.08
I fd = × × 10 Fd 10
= × × 10 10 = 49.19
fd f 6.775 × 25.14 6.775
In actual engineering design, maximum frequency diversity improvement
degree is 10.
(5) Calculation of flat fading interruption rate (BER<10-4)
Fd 39.5
− −
Pe = KQf B d C 10 10
= 2.630 × 10 -6 × 6.775 × 25.213.2 × 10 10
= 6.14 × 10 −5
(6) Calculation of selective fading interruption rate (BER<10-4):

For details, refer to the calculation method described in section 2.3.4.2. For the
parameter: Δf is 30.1 MHz, L0 is 20dB, and progress error distribution
coefficient K1 is 5.
Without space diversity:
⎡ (1 − 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ) 2 ⎤
Pfr = 0.2 KQf B d C ⎢1 − ⎥ = 1.00 × 10 − 4
⎢⎣ (1 − 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ) 2 + 4 × (1 − R f ) × 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ⎥⎦
With space diversity:
B 8 ⎧⎪
C
π ⎪
( 1
P fr = 0 .2 KQf d × ⎨ x 0 1 − x 02 0 .5 − (1 − x 02 ) 2 + tan −1
4
) 4 × (1 − R f ) × 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ⎫⎪
(1 − 10 ( L0 / 10 ) ) 2
⎬
⎩ ⎪⎭
= 3 .64 × 10 − 6
For improvement degree of frequency diversity selective fading, refer to the
improvement coefficient of frequency diversity flat fading. Here, it is 10.
Since SDH microwave equipment has decision feedback equalizer which can
improve selective fading, here the improvement degree is 2.
(7) Calculation of total interruption loss (BER<10-4)
Based on new national standard, this microwave circuit is evaluated by the local
network circuit index: SESR of each kilometer is distributed as
-7
0.002×5%/500=2×10 . Microwave circuit of this hop allows SESR to be
5.04×10-6.
¾ SESR of the predicted circuit that does not adopt space diversity and
frequency diversity is
Pt = p e + Pfd / I = 6.14 × 10 −5 + 1.00 × 10 −4 / 2 = 1.61 × 10 −4 .
¾ SESR of the predicted circuit that adopts frequency diversity is
Pt = p e / I fd + Pfd /( I ffd × I ) = 6.14 × 10 −5 / 10 + 1.00 × 10 −4 /(2 × 10) = 1.61 × 10 −5
¾ SESR of the predicted circuit that adopts space diversity is 4.60×10-6.
Pt = p e / I sd + Pfrsd / I = 6.14 × 10 −5 / 200 + 3.64 × 10 −6 / 2 = 2.13 × 10 −6
¾ SESR of the predicted circuit that adopts space diversity and frequency
diversity is
Pt = p e /( I fd × I sd ) + Pfrsd /( I ffd × I )
= 6.14 × 10 −5 /(200 × 10) + 3.64 × 10 −6 /(10 × 2) = 2.13 × 10 −7
From the predicted result, the microwave circuit can meet design requirements
only by adopting space diversity and frequency diversity.
(9) Digital microwave transmission index estimate list
Table 8.2 C—A digital microwave transmission index estimate list
No. Site name A C

1 Frequency (GHz) 6.775
2 Arrangement (1+1)*STM-1
3 Modulation 64QAM
5 Cross section type D
6 Antenna polarization H
7 Caliber of the primary antenna (m) 2.0 2.0
8 Caliber of the diversity antenna (m) 2.0 2.0
9 Primary antenna gain (dB) 40.5 40.5
10 Diversity antenna gain (dB) 40.5 40.5
11 Transmitting power (dBm) 32
12 Free space loss (dB) 137.10
13 Primary feeder line length (m) 40 45
14 Primary feeder line loss (dB) 2.14 2.41
15 Tributary loss (dB) 5.50
16 Normal receiving level (dBm) -34.2
17 Threshold level (dBm)( (BER=1E-4) -73.5
18 Flat fading margin (dB) 39.5
19 Possibility of flat fading occurrence 54.415
20 Predicted possibility of flat fading interruption rate (BER<1E-4) 6.14E-05
21 Diversity antenna vertical spacing (m) 10 10
22 Frequency diversity spacing (MHz) 80.00
23 Space diversity improvement degree (Isd) 200 200
24 Frequency diversity improvement degree (Ifd) 10
25 Diversity predicted flat fading interruption rate (BER<1E-4) 3.07E-08
26 Predicted selective fading interruption rate 5.00E-06
27 Diversity predicted selective fading interruption rate 1.82E-07
28 Predicted fading interruption rate (BER<1E-4) 2.13E-07
29 Permitted interruption rate (BER<1E-4) 5.04E-06
Table 8.3 digital microwave selective fading index estimate list
No. Site name A C

1 Frequency (GHz) 6.775
2 Arrangement (1+1)*STM-1
No. Site name A C

3 Modulation 64QAM
5 Cross section type D
6 Antenna altitude height (m) 94 242
7 Antenna height difference (m) 148
8 Frequency channel bandwidth (MHz) 30.01
9 Progress difference distribution co-efficient (k1) 5
10 Rayleigh fading possibility (F GHz) 10.88%
11 Rayleigh fading possibility (4 GHz) 6.79%
12 Average value of progress error: lm(cm) 23.01
13 Standard deviation of progress error: r1(cm) 30.04
14 Frequency relative coefficient: rf 0.95
15 Linear amplitude dispersion (BER=10^-3) 20
16 Chromatic fading possibility (PLO) 9.19E-04
17 Frequency diversity improvement coefficient 10
18 Decision feedback equalizer improvement coefficient 2
19 Possibility of linear amplitude dispersion exceeding L0 5.00E-06
20 Space diversity S/D
21 Possibility of linear amplitude dispersion exceeding L0 (with diversity) 3.34E-05
22 Predicted selective fading interruption rate 1.82E-07
8.2.2 SDH Microwave Site Type and Polarization Configuration
This section describes how to configure two-frequency microwave polarization

and site type, and how to calculate interference.
(1) A hop of SDH microwave is previously established from C to B, C is the high

site, B is the low site, and frequency is f1 and f3 of L6G. Polarization is vertical.
(2) In this phase, a new hop of SDH microwave is to be established between A
and D. Frequency still adopts f1 and f3 of L6G.
(3) For the sake of calculation, supposed the microwave antenna caliber of each
site is Φ3.2m, feeder line length, tributary circuit loss and transmitting power are
the same.
Specific microwave routes are as follows:
Figure 8.5 Microwave route
A：Dayang B：Daju C：Daxiang Hill D：Maguan
Calculation:
(1) Supposed D is high site, since frequencies of the two hops are the same,
cross-station interference may be produced. Interfering paths are as follows:
¾ Interference from A to C and that from C to A
¾ Interference from B to D and that from D to B
Here, interference from B to D is calculated.
Figure 8.6 Interference—schematic map
Useful signals: Pro = Pt + (Gt + Gr ) − ( Lt + Lr ) − LBr − L f
Interference signals: Pri = Pi + (Gt + G r ) − ( Lt + Lr ) − LBr − L fi

' ' ' '
Carrier-interference ratio (carrier power at the input end of the

receiver/interference level): C / I = p r 0 − p ri
The feeder line length, tributary circuit loss, and transmitting power of the two
routes are the same, thus,
C / I = p r 0 − p ri = (Gt − Gt' ) + (Gr − Gr' ) − L f + L fi
If the polarization of the two microwave routes is the same, that is, from A to D,
horizontal polarization is adopted,
The separation angle from the antenna of site B to that of site D is 0.25°, then,
(Gt − Gt' ) = 0.5(dBi)
The separation angle from the antenna of site D to that of site B is 42.6°,
then, (Gt − Gt ) = 55( dBi )
'
(Note: antenna gain is determined by actual antenna direction map, if there is

no direction map, you can predict it based on engineering calculation formula.)
Then: C / I = 0.5 + 55 − 20 * log(37.06 / 31.45) = 54.1(dB )
For digital microwave relay communication line, since the propagation path of
the useful signals and that of interference signal are different, when considering
permitted C/I ratio, normally, lower fading margin of 40 dB should be reserved.
For the threshold C/I ratio (bit error rate is 10-4) of this microwave equipment is
26.8dB, then:
Co-polarization interference fading margin is: 54.1 − 26.8 = 27.3( dB )
The result indicates that the interference fading margin is inadequate.
From the previous calculation, you can see that if D is the high site, interference
may be serious, and this solution is unacceptable.
In the same way, you can calculate the interference from C to A, from B to D and
that from D to B. The result still indicates that the interference is serious.
(2) Supposed D is low site, interference paths are as follows:
¾ Interference from B to A
¾ Interference from A to B
¾ Interference from D to C
¾ Interference from C to D
Figure 8.7 Interference paths when D is the low site
Interference of each path is calculated as follows:
Table 8.4 Interference calculation list
Interference path 1 2 3 4
Interference from Interference Interference Interference from
Description
B to A from A to B from D to C C to D
Front/Back ratio of receiving antenna:
60 46 67 67
F/B(dB)
Front/Back ratio of transmitting
46 60 28 28
antenna: F/B(dB)
Transmitting power difference (Pt-Pt’)
(dB)
Antenna gain difference (G-G’) (dB)
Feeder line length difference (m)
Feeder line loss difference (Lf- Lf’) (dB)
Tributary circuit loss difference (dB)
20Log(D/D’) (dB) 3.27 2.20 27.90 28.97
Other loss (dB)
D/U(dB) 102.73 103.80 67.10 66.03
C/N [ BER=10-4](dB) 26.8 26.8 26.8 26.8
Interference margin (dB) 75.93 77.00 40.30 39.23
From the table, when D is the low site, the interference from D to C is not so
serious, and the design requirement can be met.
In actual design, D is low site, and from D to A, horizontal polarization is

adopted.
8.2.3 Calculation of PDH Microwave Circuit Indexes
Following examples describes the calculation of base access-layer PDH

microwave circuit indexes in mobile engineering design.
I. 8.2.3.1 Access-Layer Microwave Features
Base access microwave features:
(1) Site distance is short, generally, within 10 km

(2) Microwave band always adopts the upper band (such as 13 GHz, 15 GHz)
(3) Distance can be viewed, normally, electrical test and microwave profile are
unnecessary, that is, path clearance needs not to be calculated
(4) Microwave transmission capacity is 1E1, 2E1, 4E1, 8E1 and 16E1
(5) Besides fading, unavailability index caused by rain fading also needs to be
considered.
II. 8.2.3.2 Access Layer Microwave Frequency Polarization

Configuration Principle and Calculation Basis
Frequency and Polarization Principle
(1) Frequency configuration normally adopts four-frequency system, and

cross-station interference should be considered.
(2) Considering the influence of rain fading, for long-haul upper-band microwave,
vertical polarization is preferred.
Calculation Basis:
(1) Circuit index evaluate the circuit based on national standard.

(2) For microwave higher than 10 GHz, rain fading should be considered, and
for microwave lower than 10 GHz, rain fading is not considered.
(3) For small capacity digital microwave system used in base access, for the
band is narrow and modulation is simple, frequency selective fading is not
considered.
III. 8.2.3.3 Calculation of Access Layer Microwave Circuit Indexes
Known Conditions:
(1) Site distance is 10 km, microwave cross section is of type B, and it belongs
to rain zone M
(2) Transmission capacity of microwave equipment is 4E1, and 13 GHz
frequency band is adopted.
(3) Main technical indexes of microwave equipment: antenna transmitting power

is 18 dBm, and receiving threshold is -82 dBm.
(4) Major technical indexes of microwave antenna: Φ0.6m antenna gain is 35.3
dB, Φ1.2m antenna gain is 41.4 dB.
Calculation:
¾ Calculation of Circuit Interruption Rate
(1) Calculation of free space transmission loss
L f = 92.44 + 20 lg[d (km )] + 20 lg[ f (GHz )] = 92.44 + 20 lg 13 + 20 lg 5 = 128.70(dB)
(2) Receiving level of free space

For PDH microwave, the basic rules of selecting antenna is that fading margin
of 35 dB should be reserved and normally, maximum receiving level is less than
-30 dBm.
Based on this rule, caliber of microwave antenna of this hop is 0.6m, and the
antenna gain is 39.7 dB.
Free space receiving level:
Pro = Pt + (Gt + Gr ) − L f = 18 + 2 × 35.3 − 128.70 = −40.1(dBm)
(For transmitting power of PDH microwave provided by general factories is

antenna mouth power, tributary circuit loss needs not be considered. And for IF
cable is adopted, feeder line loss needs not be considered)
Flat fading margin:
Fd = Pro − Pth = −40.1 − (−82) = 41.9(dB )

(3) Calculation of flat fading interruption rate (BER<10-3):
Fd 41.9
− −
Pe = KQf B d C 10 10
= 2.75 × 10 -5 × 13 × 51.8 × 10 10
= 4.22 × 10 −7
(4) Circuit index evaluation:
Circuit index of microwave of this hop is evaluated according to intermediate
circuit. Permitted SES (bit error rate larger than 1×10-3)
0.04% × L / 1250 = 1.6 × 10 −6 can meet the requirement.
¾ Calculation of Circuit Unavailability Index:
Circuit availability index is another important quality index of digital microwave

relay communication system.
When estimating unavailability indexes, all factors should be included, that is,
statistical predicted availability and accidental transient interruption, such as
transient interruption of more than continuous 10 seconds caused by radio
equipment, propagation, interference, power supply and human act. And
unavailability of transient interruption caused by propagation and interference

should occupy 1/3.
In actual engineering design, for microwave lower than 10 G band, system
unavailability index is not considered, to improve the availability index of the
system, standby channel can be set. For microwave higher than 10 G band,
unavailability of transient interruption caused by rain fading, needs to be
considered.
For rain zone M, 0.01% of 5min, raininess R0.01 = 63mm / h .
0.01% of the time, path length reducing factor:
r = 1 /(1 + d / d 0 ) = 1 /(1 + d / 35e −0.15×R0.01 ) = 1 /(1 + 5 / 35e −0.15×63 ) = 0.73

For 13 GHz microwave, under vertical polarization, 0.01% of the year, exceeded
rain fading rate V R is 2.76 dB/km. Under horizontal polarization, 0.01% of the
year, exceeded rain fading rate V R is 3.33dB/km.
Vertical polarization, 0.01% of the year, rain fading exceeded:
A0.01 = VR × r × d = 2.76 × 0.73 × 5 = 10.1(dB)

Horizontal polarization, 0.01% of the year, rain fading exceeded:
A0.01 = VR × r × d = 3.33 × 0.73 × 5 = 12.2.(dB )

P% of the year, rain fading exceeded
(1) Vertical polarization
p % = (−0.546 + 0.546 2 − 4 × 0.043 × lg( Fd /( A0.01 × 0.12) ) / 0.086 = 8.9 × 10 −5
(2) Horizontal polarization
p % = (−0.546 + 0.546 2 − 4 × 0.043 × lg( Fd /( A0.01 × 0.12) ) / 0.086 = 2.14 × 10 −4
Circuit unavailability index evaluation:
(1) Based on evaluation circuit index of intermediate circuit, unavailability index

caused by propagation
−4 −4
is (0.2% ~ 0.5%) × L / 1250 / 3 = 2.67 × 10 ~ 6.67 × 10 . The design
requirement can be met only when vertical polarization is adopted.
(2) Evaluate the circuit index based on assumed reference digital section type 3,
the assumed reference digital section length is 50 km. Unavailability index
−3
caused by propagation is 0.05% × L / 50 / 3 = 1.67 × 10 (%) , design
requirement is met.
z Have a think?

(1) Design of route, site and antenna height in microwave engineering.
(2) Frequency selection and polarization configuration.
(3) Microwave circuit performance estimate methods
8.3 Conclusion
This chapter mainly describes microwave engineering design. First, it describes
deign methods of route, site and antenna height, and then the microwave
frequency selection and polarization configuration, last, microwave circuit
performance estimate methods. After describing microwave engineering design
methods, design example of microwave engineering is listed to help engineers
have a further understanding about the design.
Chapter 9 Precautions in Engineering Design

z 　 Objectives:
To understand the overall requirement for microwave equipment layout
To learn the precautions in antenna installation
To know the craft requirement for tower
9.1 Equipment Layout

ODU and IDU (portable microwave equipment)
IDU is small in size, and IDU and ODU are connected by IF cable, they have no
special requirement for installation. Normally, they can be installed in 19’
standard subrack, and one subrack can accommodate many sets of microwave
equipment. If there is no 19’ standard subrack in the equipment room, to save
cost, IDU can be installed into the subrack of equipment (such as transmission
equipment subrack).
Trunk microwave (all-indoor microwave)
For feeder line adopts elliptical soft guide, curvature of the feeder turning point
should meet the requirement of curvature radius. When installing equipment, try
to reduce bends of the feeder line. Normally, the bending times should be less
than two. At the same time, reserve vacancies for new microwave equipment in
next expansion or installation.
Requirements for equipment room layout
(1) Convenient for maintenance, ensure safe operation, easy for construction,
save installation materials and cost
(2) Tidy and well arranged
(3) Reduce the length of feeder line, bends and twists

(4) Reserve vacancies for new microwave equipment of next installation on the
equipment layout map based on actual needs.
9.2 Installation of Microwave Antenna

Microwave antenna can be installed on tower or the mast at the top of a building.
When installing antenna onto a tower, a pole of φ114mm should be bound to the
tower. When installing antenna onto a mast, if the caliber of microwave antenna
is not more than 0.6m, the antenna can be installed on the same mast with the
antenna of mobile station (microwave antenna should be installed on the upper
mast), but the mast diameter should between 70mm and 114mm. if the
microwave antenna caliber is larger than 0.6m, another mast of 114mm is
needed. The mast should be connected closely to the beam on the top of the
building.
When the antenna is mounted onto an independent mast on the top of a
building, there should be a lighting rode on the top of the mast and the
microwave antenna should be under 45° protection area of the lighting rode.
9.3 Process Requirement for the Tower
9.3.1 Process Requirement of New Established Tower
(1) Besides technical requirement, location and height of the tower should
comply with relevant regulations of the Administration concerned, and sign
signal should be made on the top of the tower.
(2) Structure of the tower should be favorable to the installation, commissioning
and maintenance of the antenna and feeder, and an operation platform can be
properly set on the tower body.
(3) Earthquake-proof design should comply with the national standard.
(4) When the tower is free of load, vertical lean of the centerline should not
exceed 1/500 of the tower height.
(5) Under maximum external force, the angle that the maximum tower twist
makes the microwave antenna beam deviated from the communication
direction should not exceed 1/2 of the half-power angle (external force indicates
the maximum wind speed in ten minutes, 10m above the ground, that occur
every 30 years.)
(6) Structure of the tower, besides meeting the installation load requirement of
the antenna recently mounted, should also meet the requirement of the antenna
that will be mounted in the future.
(7) Anticorrosion duration of the tower should be more than 30 years.
9.3.2 Orientation Requirement of Newly Established Tower
For newly established tower, before the construction of tower base, provide
specific orientation to the construction contractor. Specific orientation should
meet the following requirements:
(1) The separation angle between microwave communication zenith and the
tower body should be within the range of 110°—160°.
(2) For the microwave with many directions, the orientation of the tower should
be considered and make it meet the requirement of (1).
(3) Based on (1) and (2), try to control microwave antenna in different
directions are installed on different rolled angle.
9.3.3 Requirement for Old Tower to be used
For the tower that is previously established, if new microwave antenna needs to
be mounted on it, especially for the antenna with caliber larger than 2m, the
construction contractor needs to entrust the original tower design institute to
check the loading condition of the tower. If the tower cannot meet the load
requirement, the original tower design institute needs to propose reconstruction
scheme or suggestions.
Suggestions:
For original base tower, if caliber of microwave antenna is 2m, it is suggested
that the antenna mounting height should not exceed 2/3 of the tower height. And
if caliber of microwave antenna is 3.2m, it is suggested that the antenna
mounting height should not exceed 1/2 of the tower height.
z Have a think?
Requirement of the equipment layout in microwave engineering
Precautions in microwave antenna mounting
Process requirement of the tower
9.4 Conclusion
This chapter describes the requirements of equipment layout, microwave
antenna mounting and the tower, and precautions in microwave engineering.

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Target readers Huawei engineers Product version

Edited by Optical Network Product Service Department Document version 1.0

Digital Microwave Communication

Drafted by: Chen Shaoying Date: 2007-01-06

Reviewed by: Chen Hu Date:

Reviewed by: Date:

Approved by: Date:

Huawei Technologies Co, Ltd

Date Revised version Author Description

2007-4-4 Huawei Confidential. No disclosure without permission. Page 2 of 144

Chapter 1 Microwave Communication Overview .......................................................................... 7

2007-4-4 Huawei Confidential. No disclosure without permission. Page 3 of 144

4.3.4 The Meaning of K Value in Engineering Design ...................................................... 57

2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 4 of 144 pages

2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 5 of 144 pages

Microwave antenna ODU IDU fading anti-fading route

2007-4-4 Huawei Confidential. No disclosure without permission. Page 6 of 144

Chapter 1 Microwave Communication Overview

To understand what is microwave communication

1.1 Basic Concepts of Digital Microwave

Figure 1.1 application of each frequency band in the microwave spectrum

2007-4-4 Huawei Confidential. No disclosure without permission. Page 7 of 144

Digital microwave communication refers to a type of communication mode

1.2 Microwave Development Course

1.2.1 Microwave Evolution in the World

2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 8 of 144 pages

1.2.2 Microwave Evolution in China

(1) Analogue Microwave Evolution

China already began to develop analogue radio communication system of 60

(2) PDH Digital Microwave Evolution

PDH is formulated by CCITT (the previous name of ITU) in 1960’s. China

2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 9 of 144 pages

1.3 Characteristics of Digital Radio Communication System

Can be rapidly installed

For example, Russian Telecommunications build a very long long-distance

High capability SDH microwave circuit of China should be Beijing-Guangzhou

In metropolises and urban areas, digital microwave is always considered as the

2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 10 of 144 pages

 Line-of-sight transmission conditions should be ensured

 Transmission distance between two stations should be not too long

 Frequencies need to be applied for

 Communication quality is greatly affected by the environment and

 Communication capacity is limited

1.4 Challenges and Opportunities for Digital Microwave

1.4.1 Optical Fiber Communication—Biggest Challenge for Digital

Since the beginning of 1990’s, administration of telecommunications begins to

To increase the capacity of digital microwave systems, microwave R&D

 XPIC—a cross-polarization interference counteract technology, which can

 New efficient correction coding technology, such as TCM, MLCM and RS

 A series of anti-multi-fading technologies, such as frequency field

 Other new technologies, such as ATPC, transmitting power spectrum

1.4.2 Opportunities for Digital Microwave Communication

As a radio transmission means, digital microwave transmission have the

2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 12 of 144 pages

 As the protection for the optical transmission systems in natural disasters

 In some situations that the optical transmission systems are inapplicable

In China, 2 G and 2.5 G mobile communication stations use most PDH

(1) Point to multi-point microwave communication system (PMP): it has two

(2) Microwave spreading data transmission system, such as point-to-point

(3) Temporary microwave communication, which adopts upper frequency band

2007-4-4 Huawei confidential, no disclosure without permission Page 13 of 144 pages

1.5 Microwave Frequency Band Choice and RF Channel

Figure1.2 the use of commom frequency band

Line-of-sight transmission conditions should be ensured

Transmission distance between two stations should be not too long

Frequencies need to be applied for

Communication quality is greatly affected by the environment and

Communication capacity is limited

XPIC—a cross-polarization interference counteract technology, which can

New efficient correction coding technology, such as TCM, MLCM and RS

A series of anti-multi-fading technologies, such as frequency field

Other new technologies, such as ATPC, transmitting power spectrum

As the protection for the optical transmission systems in natural disasters

In some situations that the optical transmission systems are inapplicable