MODULE 3:

LINK BUDGET ANALYSIS

ECE ELEC 4:
WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS
ENGINEERING

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

INTRODUCTION
In order to determine the performance of a link, one has to
work out the percentage of time the signal will be below the
threshold of the radio receiver relative to the total time
period.
The dierence between the nominal signal level and the
receiver threshold level is called the fade margin.
One must ensure that an adequate fade margin exists in the
design phase
Adding the various gains and losses over the path from
transmiAer output module to receiver demodulator input is
called the power budget.
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
 Outdoor Unit Outdoor Unit

Indoor Unit Indoor Unit

Traffic Traffic
RSL > Receiver threshold
Station A Station B
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
Link Budget
It is used to calculate fade margin which is used to estimate the
performance of radio link system.
Link budget includes the calculation of all losses and gains of the
signal between the transmiAer output and the receiver input.
Items related to the link budget:
TransmiAed power
Received power
Transmission line losses
Antenna gains
Free-space loss
Atmospheric absorption losses
From the link budget, the received signal level and the fade
margin can be computed (fading is ignored)

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Transmit Power, Branching & Feed line Loss
The transmi\ed power is usually a few waAs to several waAs.
In the link budget, Pt is expressed in dBm
The transmiAer is connected to the antenna via a transmission
line characterized by a certain aAenuation
The transmission line could be a waveguide or coaxial cable
The aAenuation of the line is measured in dB per unit length
To get the total feed line loss, the specic aAenuation is
multiplied with the total length of the transmission line.

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Branching Loss
The branching unit is a generic term to describe the circuitry
that interfaces the antenna to the transceiver.
The branching loss refers to the loss in the multiplexer
circuit
Branching losses include lter loss, combiner loss, and
isolator loss.

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

System Losses
Path loss (FSL)
Transmission losses
Waveguide Loss
o Taken from the specs expressed in dB/100 ft or dB/100 m
Connector Loss
o taken from specs (0.5 dB)
Coupling Loss
o taken form specs (coax to waveguide to air)
Hybrid Loss
o taken from specs, a.k.a circulator loss (1 dB)
Radome Loss
o taken from the specs (0.5 dB)

TOTAL SYSTEM LOSS = FSL + TLL + AL

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
Transmission Losses

COUPLING LOSS
RADOME LOSS

CONNECTOR LOSS HYBRID LOSS

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
 Antenna Gain
The gain of a parabolic antenna is given by:
2 2
!d $ !d $
G = 10 log # & = 10 log +10 log # &
" % " %

G = 10 log 0.55 + 20 log + 20 log10 9 + 20 log f + 20 log d
c
= antenna eciency
d = antenna diameter (m)
G = 17.8 + 20 log f(GHz) + 20 log d(m)
f = frequency (GHz)
typical antenna e: is 55%
The gain of an antenna increases or decreases proportional to the square of its diameter.
(If its diameter changes by a factor of 2, its gain changes by a factor of 4 = 6 dB)
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
Eective Radiated Power
ERP refers to the amount of power emiAed by the antenna in
the direction of maximum antenna gain.

ERP = Pt LTL LB + Gt

ERP = eective radiated power (dBm)

Pt = transmiAer output power (dBm
LTL = transmission line losses (dB)
LB = branching loss (dB)
Gt = transmit antenna gain (dB)

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Received Signal Level (unfaded)
The amount of power that enters the front-end of the
receiver
Under unfaded conditions, the received signal level is

PT = transmit power (dBm)

LTL = transmission line losses (dB)
LB = branching losses (dB)
LP = free-space path loss (dB)

GT = transmit antenna gain (dBi)

GR = gain of receive antenna (dBi)
RSL = received signal level

RSL = PT LTL LB + GT LP + GR
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
Receiver Threshold
minimum wideband carrier power Receiver Sensitivity
at the receiver input that will
provide a usable baseband output S
Rth = + N + NF
minimum receiver input power N
necessary to achieve a given
reliability and quality objective kTB
N(dBm) = 10 log
also called receiver sensitivity. 1 mW
always has a negative value,
typically from 70 dBm to 90 dBm Rth = receiver threshold (dBm)
103 value of BER is used for the fade S/N = required signal-to-noise
margin ratio at the receiver input (dB)
N = thermal noise power (dBm)
106 value of BER is used as NF = noise gure in the receivers
minimum quality level for data front-end (dB)

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Fade Margin
it considers the non-ideal and less predictable characteristics of radio-
wave propagation
serves as a safety margin against fading so as to meet outage objectives
during fading conditions
equal to the dierence between RSL and the receiver threshold.


FM = RSL Rth
calculated with respect to the receiver threshold level for a given bit-
error rate (BER)
should match the availability and the reliability objectives set.
The radio can handle anything that aects the radio signal within the
fade margin but if it is exceeded, then the link could go down and
therefore become unavailable
Typical value is around 35 40 dB.

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Barne\-Vignant Reliability Equation
considers the nonideal and less predictable characteristics of radio
wave propagation such as multipath loss and terrain sensitivity
It also considers the system reliability objectives.
For an unprotected, nondiversity system:

FM = 30 logD + 10 log(6ABf ) 10 log(1 R) 70

Multipath Terrain Reliability
eect sensitivity objectives
A = roughness factor B factor to convert a worst-month
= 4 over water or very smooth probability to an annual probability
terrain = 0.5 for hot humid areas
= 1 over an average terrain = 0.25 for average inland areas
= 0.25 for very rough, = 0.125 for very dry or
mountainous terrain mountainous areas
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
Reliability with Equivalent Fade Margin

Fade Margin (dB) Reliability (%)

18 99
28 99.9
38 99.99
48 99.999
58 99.9999

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

 Parameter Function Unit Type Description
TransmiAer Output Power Given dBm Variable Taken from Radio Specication

Connector Loss Subtracted dB Typical Taken from Waveguide Specications

Waveguide Loss Subtracted dB Variable Taken from Waveguide Specications

Connector Loss Subtracted dB Typical Taken from Waveguide Specications

Transmit Antenna Gain Added dB Variable Taken from Antenna Specications

Free Space Loss Subtracted dB Variable Computed from Formula

Receive Antenna Gain Added dB Variable Taken from Antenna Specications

Connector Loss Subtracted dB Typical Taken from Waveguide Specications

Waveguide Loss Subtracted dB Variable Taken from Waveguide Specications

Connector Loss Subtracted dB Typical Taken from Waveguide Specications

Received Signal Level Computed dB Variable Computed from Formula

Receiver Threshold Given dBm Variable Taken from Radio Specication

Fade Margin Computed dB Variable Computed from Formula

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

System Gain
The dierence between the nominal output power of a
transmiAer (Pt) and the receiver threshold (Rth)
Gs = Pt Rth
Gs losses gains
Gs = FM + Lp + L f + Lb At Ar

It represents the net loss of a radio system.
For satisfactory performance, the minimum transmit power
should be GS dB more than the threshold of the receiver.
System gain depends on the modulation used and on the
design of the radio
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
System Gains and Losses with FM
Gt Lp and FM Gr

Channel Lf Lf Channel
Microwave
Microwave Pt combining combining
receiver
transmitter network network
RSL
Lb Lb

Transmit Antenna gain RSL = Pt GS + FM

power
Branching
Branching Antenna loss
loss Feeder FSL + gain
loss Atmospheric Feeder RSL
losses. loss Fade
Margin
Receiver threshold
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
System Gain Parameters

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Example:
For a carrier frequency of 6 GHz and a distance of 50 km,
determine the free-space path loss.

Ans: LP =142 dB

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Example:
An FM LOS microwave link operates at 6.15 GHz. The
transmi\er output power is 1 wa\. The path length is 34
km; the antennas at each end have a 35-dB gain and the
transmission line losses at each end are 3 dB. Find the
received signal level.

Ans: 44.8 dBm

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Example:
Consider a space-diversity microwave radio system
operating at an RF carrier frequency of 1.8 GHz. Each
station has a 2.4-meter diameter parabolic antenna that
is fed by a 100 m of air-lled coaxial cable. The terrain
is smooth and the area has a humid climate. The
distance between stations is 40 km. A reliability
objective of 99.99% is desired. Determine the system
gain. The air-lled coaxial cable has a feeder loss of 5.4
dB/100 m and branching loss of 2 dB.

Ans:114.75 dB
WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy
Example:
frequency (GHz) 12.8125 path length (km) 26.25

Complete the link FSL (dB) (1) A B

budget given. antenna diameter (ft)

antenna eciency
2
0.7
2
0.7

1. _____ antenna gain (dB) (2) (3)

antenna height (m) 17.58 17.51

2. _____ radome loss (dB) 0.7 0.7

circulator loss (dB) 0.5 0.5
3. _____ connector loss (dB) 1.43 1.43
number of connectors 2 2
4. _____ waveguide aAenuation (dB/100 m) 11.24 11.24

5. _____
waveguide length (m) 27.58 27.51
total system loss (dB) (4)

6. _____ eective radiated power (dBm) (5) (6)

transmiAer output power (dBm) 23 NA

7. _____ receiver sensitivity (dBm) NA 89

received signal level (dBm) NA (7)
8. _____ fade margin (dB) (8)
system gain (dB) (9)

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Example:
Refer to the diagram and determine the minimum receive
carrier power and the minimum transmit power.

Ans: Cmin = 82.5 dBm, Pt = 29.5 dBm

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy

Example:
From the given diagram, determine the following:
GS, Cmin/N, Cmin, N and Pt

Ans: GS = 110.5 dB, Pt(min) = 31.7 dBm

WIRELESS COMMS UST ECE Department (2017) Engr. Jefril M. Amboy