Losses associated with microwave transmission

Adusumalli Mallikharjuna Rao

RE2407B10, 11407829
Dept. of ECE
Lovely Professional University

Abstract—We consider uniform loss transmission lines Microwave transmission also requires line of sight in order to
characterized by their primary parameters. Exact and work properly. In order to allow two way communications two
approximate Formulas for the characteristic impedance and frequencies are used. However, this does not mean that there
propagation coefficient are reviewed and discussed for low- has to be two antennas because the frequencies can be dealt
loss lines. Approximating the characteristic impedance by its with by one antenna at both ends
real part can lead to erroneous results for the input impedance
of short- and open-circuited stubs. This problem is analytically
demonstrated on electrically short stubs. Results obtained
using the exact and approximate expressions are compared
with numerical solutions that are generated by various circuit
simulation software.

Introduction

One of the major issue in power system is the losses occurs

during the transmission and distribution of electrical power.
As the demand increases day by day, the power generation
increases and the power loss is also increased. The major
amount of power loss occurs during transmission and
distribution. The percentage of loss of power during
transmission and distribution is approximated as 26%. The
main reason for power loss during Transmission and
distribution is the resistance of wires used for grid. The . The distance covered by microwave signals is based upon the
efficiency of power transmission can be improved to certain height of the antenna. In order to increase this coverage each
level by using high strength composite overhead conductors antenna has a built-in repeater that regenerates the signal
and underground cables that use high temperature super before passing it on to the next antenna in line. The placement
conductor. But, the transmission is still inefficient. According of the antenna to do this is approximately 25 miles. The main
to the World Resources Institute (WRI), India’s electricity grid drawback of microwave signals is that they can be affected by
has the highest transmission and distribution losses in the weather, especially rain.
world – a whopping 27%. Numbers published by various
Indian government agencies put that number at 30%, 40% and
greater than 40%. This is attributed to technical losses (grid’s
inefficiencies) and theft

Any problem can be solved by state–of-the-art technology.

The above discussed problem can be solved by choose an
alternative option for power transmission which could provide
much higher efficiency, low transmission cost and avoid
power theft. Microwave Power Transmission is one of the
promising technologies and may be the righteous alternative
for efficient power transmission.

1
 efficiency at a 2m (7ft) distance using two 60cm-diameter
coils in 2007 . Recently in 2008, Intel reproduced the MIT
group’s experiment by wirelessly powering a light bulb with
75% efficiency at a shorter distance

microwave link
microwave link is a communications system that uses a beam
of radio waves in the microwave frequency range to transmit
video, audio, or data between two locations, which can be
from just a few feet or meters to several miles or kilometers
apart. Microwave links are commonly used by television
broadcasters to transmit programmers across a country, for
instance, or from an outside broadcast back to a studio. Mobile
units can be camera mounted, allowing cameras the freedom
to move around without trailing cables. These are often seen
on the touchlines of sports fields on Stead cam systems.
Wireless Power Transmission

Nikola Tesla he is who invented radio and shown us he is

indeed the “Father of Wireless”. Nikola Tesla is the one who
first conceived the idea Wireless Power Transmission and
demonstrated “the transmission of electrical energy without
wires" that depends upon electrical conductivity as early as
1891. In 1893, Tesla demonstrated the illumination of vacuum
bulbs without using wires for power transmission at the World
Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Wardenclyffe tower
shown in Figure 1 was designed and constructed by Tesla
mainly for wireless transmission of electrical power rather
than telegraphy.
How microwave radio relay links are formed
In 1904, an airship ship motor of 0.1 horsepower is driven by
transmitting power through space from a distance of least 100
Because the radio waves travel in narrow beams confined to a
feet . In 1961, Brown published the first paper proposing
line fight path from one antenna to the other, they don't
microwave energy for power transmission, and in 1964 he
interfere with other microwave equipment, and nearby
demonstrated a microwave-powered model helicopter that
microwave links can use the same frequencies. Antennas used
received all the power needed for flight from a microwave
must be highly directional (High gain); these antennas are
beam at 2.45 GHz from the range of 2.4GHz – 2.5 GHz
installed in elevated locations such as large radio towers in
frequency band which is reserved 101 for Industrial,
order to be able to transmit across long distances. Typical
Scientific, and Medical (ISM) applications. Experiments in
types of antenna used in radio relay link installations are
power transmission without wires in the range of tens of
parabolic antennas, dielectric lens, and Horner flector
kilowatts have been performed at Goldstone in California in
antennas, which have a diameter of up to 4 meters. Highly
1975 and at Grand Basing on Reunion Island in 1997 The
directive antennas permit an economical use of the available
world’s first MPT experiment in the ionosphere called the
MINIX (Microwave Ionosphere Non-linear Interaction frequency spectrum, despite long transmission distances.
Experiment) rocket experiment is demonstrated in 1983 at
Japan . Similarly, the world‟s first fuel free airplane powered Near-field techniques
by microwave energy from ground was reported in 1987 at
Canada. This system is called SHARP (Stationary High – Inductive Coupling
Altitude Relay Platform) ]. In 2003, Dryden Flight Research Resonant Inductive Coupling (RIC)
Centre of NASA demonstrated a laser powered model airplane
Air Ionization
indoors. Japan proposed wireless charging of electric motor
vehicles by Microwave Power Transmission in 2004. Power
cast, a new company introduced wireless power transfer
technology using RF energy at the 2007 Consumer Electronics
Far-field techniques
Show . A physics research group, led byProf. Marin Solaces,
at the Massachusetts Institute of technology (MIT) Microwave Power Transmission (MPT)
demonstrated wireless powering of a 60W light bulb with 40% LASER power transmission

2

Block diagram of RIC
Microwave transmission relies on three key
elements:
Use of radio frequency to achieve the
transmissions (operating between 1Ghz to
170Ghz
Clear line-of-sight with no obstacles in the way
Regular relay stations required due to line of site
and cost considerations
Components of WPT System
The Primary components of Wireless Power Transmission are
Microwave Generator, Transmitting antenna and Receiving
antenna (Retina). The components are described in this
chapter
Microwave Generator
The microwave transmitting devices are classified as
Microwave Vacuum Tubes (magnetron, klystron, Travelling
Wave Tube (TWT), and Microwave Power Module (MPM and
Semiconductor Microwave transmitters (GaAs MESFET, Gain
pHEMT, SiC MESFET, Alga/GaN HFET, and Inga AS.
Magnetron is widely used for experimentation of WPT. The
microwave transmission often uses 2.45GHz or 5.8GHz of
ISM band. The other choices of frequencies are 8.5 GHz , 10
GHz[14] and 35 GHz . The highest efficiency over 90% is
achieved at 2.45 GHz among all the frequencies.
3
Transmitting antenna
The slotted wave guide antenna, micro strip patch antenna,
and parabolic dish antenna are the most popular type of
transmitting antenna. The slotted waveguide antenna is ideal
for power transmission because of its high aperture efficiency
(> 95%) and high power handling capability
Uses
Microwaves are widely used for point to point
communications because their small wavelength allows
conveniently sized antennas to direct them in narrow beams,
which can be pointed directly at the receiving antenna. This
allows nearby microwave equipment to use the same
frequencies without interfering with each other, as lower
frequency radio waves do. Another advantage is that the high
frequency of microwave
gives the microwave band a very large information carrying
capacity; the microwave band has a bandwidth 30 times that
of all the rest of the radio spectrum below it. A disadvantage is
that microwaves are limited to line of sight propagation; they
cannot pass around hills or mountains as lower frequency
radio waves can. Microwave radio transmission is commonly
used in point to point communication systems on the surface
of the Earth, in satellite communications, and in deep space
radio communications. Other parts of the microwave radio
band are used for radars, radio navigation systems, sensor
systems, and radio astronomy
Applications Of Wpt
Generating power by placing satellites with giant solar arrays
in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit and transmitting the power as
microwaves to the earth known as Solar Power Satellites(SPS)
is the largest application of WPT. Another application of WPT
is moving targets such as fuel free airplanes, fuel free electric
vehicles, moving robots and fuel free rockets. The other
applications of WPT are Ubiquitous Power Source (or)
Wireless Power
Near-field energy transfer
1. Electric and Consumer electronics
2. Industrial purposes
In Far-field energy transfer
1. Solar Power Satellites
2. Energy to remote areas
3. Can broadcast energy globally (in future)
 [3]L.W. Epp, A.R. Khan, H.K. Smith, and R.P. Smith, “A
compact dual-polarized 8.51 GHz rectenna for high-voltage
(50 V) actuator applications,” IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory
Tech

Advantages [4]Microwave Engineering - V.S.Bagad - Google

Books
 No cables needed
 Multiple channels available [5]https://www.google.co.in/url?
 Wide bandwidth sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad
 =rja&uact=8&ved=0CDYQFjAD&url=http%3A
 microwave band a very large %2F%2Farxiv.org%2Fabs%2Fcond-mat
information carrying capacity %2F0206429&ei=QEgeVeGYApCQuAT5z4GwCw&
usg=AFQjCNGLzuk5-
Disadvantages
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d.c2E
 Line-of-sight will be disrupted if any
obstacle, such as new buildings, are in the [6]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave transmission
way
 Signal absorption by the atmosphere.
Microwaves suffer from attenuation due to
atmospheric conditions.
 Towers are expensive to build

Conclusion

The concept of Microwave Power transmission

(MPT) and Wireless Power Transmission system is
presented. The technological developments in
Wireless Power Transmission (WPT), the
advantages, disadvantages, biological impacts
and applications of WPT are also discussed. This
concept offers greater possibilities for
transmitting power with negligible losses and
ease of transmission than any invention or
discovery heretofore made. Dr. Neville of NASA
states “You don’t need cables, pipes, or copper
wires to receive power. We can send it to you like
a cell phone call – where you want it, when you
want it, in real time”. We can expect with
certitude that in next few years‟ wonders will be
wrought by its applications if all the conditions
are favourable

References
[1]http://cleantechindia.wordpress.com/2008/07/1
6/indiaselectricity- transmission-and-distribution-
losses
.
[2]T-Woo and K. Chang, “Theoretical and experimental
development of 10 and 35 GHz recentness,” IEEE Trans.
Microwave Theory.