PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Given a receiver with a 100-kHz bandwidth and an effective noise

temperature of 600 K, what is the noise power level at the input to the receiver?
Give the units with your answer.

2. Given a symmetrical line-of-sight communication link with a minimum

detectable signal of -90 dBw, a transmit power of +10 dBw, antenna gain of 28
dB, and frequency of 10 GHz, mounted on a 100-ft tower, what is the maximum
communication distance (neglecting all sources of interference or fading)?

3. Given a communication link with each transceiver mounted on a 20-m tower,

operating over a smooth, reflective terrain, what is the path loss experienced
over the path if the transceivers are 2 km apart? Assume the frequency is 10
GHz and the antennas each have unity gain (0 dB). Justify your answer.

4. Consider a 1.9-GHz system with the following parameters:

hm = 5 m, ht = 30 m
Gt = 20 dBd, Gm = 0 dBd

If the maximum allowable path loss for reception is 148 dB, what is the
maximum distance at which 90% coverage can be obtained? You may use the
Lee Model for the median path loss with g = 43.1 and L0 = 106.3 dB. Assume
log-normal fading with st = 8 dB and use n = 2.5 for the frequency adjustment
exponent.
5. Consider a PCS cell that is located in a relatively rural area, where there is
only a small amount of blockage or shadowing, and free-space loss can be used
for the median path-loss computation. Given the system parameters

f = 1.9 GHz
S = 3 dB (location variability)
PLmax = 110-dB maximum allowable path loss

what is the maximum distance at which 95% coverage can be expected?

Assume that the shadowing is log-normal.

6. A millimeter-wave (28-GHz) data link uses a 0.3-m-diameter aperture

antenna on each end and a 20-dBm transmitter. The waveguide loss at the back
of the antenna is 1 dB and the radome loss is 0.5 dB. If the signal band-width is
10 MHz, the equivalent noise temperature is 800 K and the required CNR for
detection is 25 dB, what is the maximum distance between the radios for
reliable operation? Assume that the antenna efficiency is 60%, both radios are
mounted 10 m above the ground, and the ground is very reflective. Also assume
that a 20-dB fade margin is required. Generate a link budget and then compute
the maximum distance.

1
 EXERCISES 207

7. A 1.9-GHz data link uses a 0.3-m diameter aperture antenna on each end and
a 10-dBm transmitter. The waveguide loss at the back of the antenna is 1 dB and
the radome loss is 0.5 dB. If the signal bandwidth is 1 MHz, the equivalent
noise temperature is 800 K and the required CNR for detection is 15 dB, what is
the maximum distance between the radios for reliable operation? Assume that
the antenna efficiency is 60%, both radios are mounted 2 m above the ground,
and the ground is very reflective. Also assume that a 20-dB fade margin is
required. Generate a link budget and estimate the maximum range.
8. Consider the 2-km communication link shown in the accompanying diagram.
If the frequency of the link is 2.85 GHz, the middle building is located between
the other two as shown, and the roof is reflective, determine the following:

i) Can FSL be used to plan the link (i.e., is the middle building producing any
significant blockage of the signal)? Justify your answer.
ii) Will reflected signal from the roof cause a multipath type of signal fade
(i.e., cancellation)? Again explain your conclusions.
Assume that the antenna patterns are fairly broad, so that antenna dis-
crimination does not factor into the analysis.
d = 2 km
d1 = 1.6 km d2 = 0.4 km

a1 a2
100 m

90 m

Diagram for Exercise 6

9. Consider a receiver with a 4-dB noise figure and a 2-MHz bandwidth. If a

carrier-to-noise ratio of 15 dB is required for acceptable BER (bit error rate)
performance, what carrier (signal) strength is required at the receiver? At what
point would this signal be measured or referenced?

10. In the preceding problem, if the transmitter at the other end of the com-
munications link is 2 km away, both the transmitter and receiver use a 4-dB
antenna, and the frequency is 800 MHz, what is the minimum required transmit
power?

11. Consider a point-to-point communication link operating at 38 GHz, using

35-dB dish antennas at each end. The radome loss is 2 dB at each end, and a 10-
dB fade margin is required to allow for rain fades. If the transmit power is -10
dBm, the receiver noise figure is 7 dB, the bandwidth is 50 MHz, and the link
distance is 1.2 km, what is the signal-to-noise ratio at the receiver in dB?
Assume that free-space loss applies.

2
 12. Consider a communication link operating at 28 GHz, using 30-dB dish
antennas at each end. A 10-dB fade margin is required to allow for rain fades. If
the transmit power is 0 dBm, the receiver noise figure is 7 dB, the bandwidth is
50 MHz, and the required carrier-to-noise ratio for reliable operation is 12 dB,
find the following:
i) The required received signal level.
ii) The allowable path loss.
iii) The maximum allowable range.
Assume that free-space loss applies.

13. A point-to-point communication system has one antenna mounted on a 5-m

tower and antenna at the other end of the link is mounted on a 10-m tower.

i) What is the distance to the horizon for each antenna?

ii) What is the maximum possible link distance if only line-of-sight is
considered?

14. Consider an indoor communications link operating at 900 MHz in an office

building with hard partitions. If the link distance is 38 m, what minimum and
maximum path loss may be encountered? Use the log-distance path model and
values at the 99th percentile (i.e., what is the minimum and maximum loss that will
be encountered with a 99% probability).

15. What is the median expected path loss at 100 m in an office building if the
frequency is 1.9 GHz? Use the ITU indoor propagation model.

16. What is the probability of a 10-dB or greater multipath fade for a point-to-point
communications link that parallels the coast in the Pacific Northwest region of the
United States? The link is operating at 28 GHz over a 10-km distance and the
antennas are mounted on 30-m towers.

17. Consider a 38-GHz, point-to-point communication system operating on the east

coast of Florida. If the antennas are mounted on 10-m towers and the
communication distance is 8 km, how much multipath fade margin is required if a
98% multipath availability is required?

18. Consider a radar system with the following parameters:

PT = 100 W f = 10
GHz Teff = 100 K
Gant = 28 dB
Pulsewidth t = 1 ms
Minimum SNR for reliable detection = 3 dB
What is the maximum distance at which a 2-m2 target can be detected?

3
19. Use the Egli model to determine the median path loss for a 400-MHz system
over a 5-km path if both antennas are handheld (h ~ 1.5 m)?

20. Repeat problem 4, but compute the 90% path loss (i.e., what level of path loss
will not be exceeded 90% of the time?)

21. Use the Okumura model to predict the median path loss for a 900 MHz system
at 10 km in an urban environment. Assume that the mobile antenna height is 7 m
and the base station antenna height is 50 m.

22. Use the Hata–Okumura model to determine the expected path loss for a 1-km
path in a large city for a 1-GHz system. The receive (mobile) antenna is at 7-m
height and the transmit antenna is at 35-m height. You may want to compute the
free-space loss for the same geometry to provide a sanity check for your answer.

23. Use the extended COST 231–Hata model to determine the maximum cell radius
for a 1.8-GHz system in a medium-sized city (C = 0 dB) if ht = 75 m and hr = 3 m.
Assume that the allowable path loss is 130 dB.

24. Use the Lee model to determine the maximum cell radius for a 900-MHz
system in a suburban area. Assume that hr = 7 m and ht = 50 m and that the
allowable path loss is 125 dB. You may assume that the mobile antenna gain is at
the reference value (0 dBd) and the transmitter antenna gain is also at the reference
value of 6 dBd.

25. Determine the main reasons why radio-communications are not possible in
frequencies less than 10 KHz or more than 100 GHz.

26. Define radiowave polarization and indicate its types. Prepare a report on
applications of different types of polarization in radio systems.

27. Define EIRP by specifying its formula in logarithmic form. Determine the
maximum value of EIRP in dBm for the following cases:
• Ga = 52 dBi; Pt = 1:5 kW
• Ga = 38 dBi; Pt = 500 mW
• Ga = 10 dBd; Pt = 20 W

28. Effective amplitude of electric field at a radiation source is 100V/m and its
value at a location 8 km far from the radiating source is 200_V/m. At frequency
f = 300MHz, find:
i) Free-space loss, FSL
ii) Transmission basic loss
iii) Transmitting power of the source and receiving power at the distant location

4
29. 500mW output power of a microwave transmitter is connected to 40 dB i
directional antenna via a feeder with 6 dB loss.
i) Find the receiving power and electric field amplitude at a distance of 40 km in
line of sight condition.
ii) Assuming total path loss equal to 140 dB, is it possible to detect the received
signal by a receiver with -80 dBm threshold level connecting to an omni-directional
antenna (G = 0 dBi ) via RF feeder with 2 dB loss?
iii) Calculate the antenna gain required for receiving a signal with 30 dB more
power than the threshold level

30. Calculate free space and basic transmission losses for:

• d = 25 km; f = 420 MHz; Lp = 15 dB
• d = 30 km; f = 7:5 MHz; Lp = 4 dB

31. Consider R = 26,333 km for radius of ray path curvature and calculate the:
i) K-factor
ii) Earth equivalent radius
iii) For K-factor variation in the range of 0.9–1.3 (due to variations of air refractive
index), find minimum and maximum value of Earth equivalent radius.

32. Find equivalent radiated power for 2W transmitter connected by an RF feeder

with Lf = 5 loss to an antenna with Gi = 1,000. How much is the amplitude of E-
field at locations of 1 and 5 km away from the transmitter?

33. In the microwave relay link shown in the figure, the range R = 50 Km. The
receiver-system-noise temperature is 1000K. The bandwidth of the system is 10 8
Hz and λ0 = 3 cm. The antenna gains for transmitter and receiver are 40 dB. Find
the required transmitter power to yield a signal-to-noise ratio of 40 dB. Assume
impedance and polarization are optimally matched.

34. A line-of-sight communication link operating at 50 MHz has the transmitting

antenna at a height of 20 m. The distance to the receiving site is 15 Km. Use the
flat-earth interference formulas to determine the height of the receiving antenna for
maximum received signal.

35. A microwave relay link is to be designed such that the signal level will not be
less than what it would be under free-space propagation conditions. The frequency
of operation is 10 GHz. The antenna heights at each terminal are 30 m. Determine
the maximum distance that can be used between stations.

5
36. An FM station operating at 100 MHz with a transmitted power of 5 KW has its
transmitting antenna at a height of 70 m. Find the field strength in microvolts per
meter at a receiving site a distance of 60 Km away. The receiving antenna is
located 10 m above the ground. The gain of the transmitting antenna is 5. If the
receiving antenna is raised to a height of 20 m, what is the new value of field
strength?

37. In a communication link, the antenna heights are 40 and 60 m. The distance
between terminals is 30 km. Find the point at which reflection from the ground
occurs. Assume standard refraction occurs. Find the path-gain factor for this system
when λ0 = 1 m. Assume a reflection coefficient of -1.

38. A communication system operates at 100 MHz and has its transmitting antenna
at a height of 50 m. Construct a flat earth coverage diagram for this system. Plot the
first two lobes for free space range parameters of 5, 10 and 20 Km.

39. A communication link operating at 300 MHz has its transmitting antenna at a
height of 25.5 m. For a receiving antenna at a height of 255 m, plot the relative
receive signal power as a function of d for d in the range of 5 to 25 mi.

40. The relation between the transmit and receive power is given by Friis free space
equations:

where,
Gt and Gr are the transmit and receive antenna gains (dimensionless quantities)
λ is the wavelength
d is the T-R separation
Pt is the transmitted power
Pr is the received power

This equation shows that the received power falls off as the square of the T-R
separation distances and that the received power decays with distance by 20
dB/decade
i) Determine the isotropic free space loss at 4 GHz for the shortest path
to a geosynchronous satellite from earth (35,863 km)
ii) Suppose that the antenna gain of both the satellite and ground based
antennas are 44 dB and 48 dB, respectively
iii) Now, assume a transmit power of 250 W at the earth station. What is
the power received at the satellite antenna?