Microwave Radio Masterclass

Fundamentals of Microwave

Introduction to MW
- History of microwave
- What’s new?
- Fundamentals of the microwave radio signal
- Latency benefits and calculations
- The electromagnetic and RF spectrum
- Safety of microwave signals
- Relative benefits of microwave compared to other transmission solutions
A comprehensive guide to current spectrum terminology in the industry

Planning considerations
- Link design considerations from UHF to mmWave
- Site and path planning
- High level spectrum planning
- Digital terrain models including SRTM
- Network topologies
- Site acquisition and build
- Repeater types repeaters including civil engineering considerations (road, tower etc.)
- Passive repeater engineering design and planning (back-to-back and billboard)
- GIS (graphical information systems) basics and coordinate system considerations
Establishing line-of-sight in practise
Practical discussion on site and path surveys including for non-LOS equipment

Homework group exercise to develop a site survey template

In-depth overview of propagation aspects

Review homework

Microwave propagation
- Understanding analogue propagation and dispelling the pencil beam myth
- The effect of the atmosphere on radio transmission
- Really understanding k-factor and Fresnel zones
- Thermal and dispersive fading and their countermeasures - Expert assessment of blackout fading and atmospheric ducting
- Handling reflections especially over water
- Rain fading and the dangers of statistics
- Practical discussion on the types of fading and how to overcome them

Practical examples

Hardware Considerations

Hardware
- Understanding the history of transmission standards (PDH, SDH, ATM)
- The benefits of Carrier Ethernet
- Overview of the system components and building blocks of a MW radio system
- Comparison of current digital modulation schemes and how they affect bandwidth efficiency
- Band, carrier (BCA) and link aggregation and use of co and cross channel dual polarisation methods
- Key radio features (adaptive equalisation, FEC, XPIC, ATPC)

Antennas and interference

Antenna considerations for MW planning
- Understanding antennas and reversing 50 years of conventional wisdom
- Antenna characteristics and what gain really means - - --- Practical application of Radiation Pattern Envelope (RPE) diagrams
- Importance of Return Loss
- Understanding near and far field operation Antenna types and the real benefit of a high-performance antenna
- Comparing antenna types and why a microwave dish is usually parabolic
- Practical considerations for comparing antennas including dual-band feeds
- Practical advice for planning, installing and maintaining antennas
- Field based discussion of choosing the right cabling, waveguides, radomes and accessories

Interference (the hidden gremlin)
- Understanding the realities of interference in digital systems
- Standards bodies and frequency regulation
- Types of licensing Frequency bands and frequency planning
- Bucking (high-low) site planning and interference and why it matters
- Understanding and calculating nodal and overshoot interference
- Overview of techniques to optimise frequency re-use

Includes class exercises and tutorial group homework

Detailed link design and final tutorial

Link design and the elusive five-nines
- How to interpret and use the main radio planning standard ITU-R P.530
- Understanding the difference between availability and performance as defined by the ITU and how to apply this to packet-based networks
- Path, equipment and network reliability issues How to handle obstacles in real-world designs
- Setting antenna heights in context ITU rules
- Redundancy schemes to make the transmission system truly carrier grade

Complete tutorial and review answers