Introduction:

Microwave links are a key part of the world’s communications infrastructure. The tremendous growth in wireless services is made possible today through the use of microwaves for backhaul in wireless and mobile networks and for point-to-multipoint networks. For anyone involved with telecommunication and information technology, understanding this technology is of fundamental importance. In this course you will learn both the technology and applications of line-of-sight microwaves. We will review elements of microwave link design, including digital radio and RF channel characteristics. You will also learn aspects of microwave link control, management, testing, standards, and practical deployment issues. This comprehensive review will give you the tools necessary to design and analyze any microwave link.

Audience:

The standard presentation of this course assumes a bachelor of science in Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or a related subject along with some background in communications engineering.

Prerequisites:

At least one year experience in the field of communication engineering, fixed or wireless telephony, or related fields.

Customize it:

This 2-3-day Microwave course will be customized to your needs and specifications. Eno.com will assist you in identifying those needs and specifications. A word to the wise, there are many vendors of wireless training. They will typically have a broad and general course, one size fits all, already developed and just put your organization’s name on the title slide. This minimizes their effort and time investment. At Eno.com, every course is made to your exact and exacting specifications. We help you ensure what you are getting is what you really need even if at the beginning you weren’t too sure of what that was. We fit the class to your needs. We never fit you into our “standard”, one size fits all, class.

Objectives:

Understand the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of this field Describe in detail how this technology works Identify the appropriate applications for microwave line-of-sight (LOS) links, from cellular backhaul to WiMax List the key components of digital radio and LOS links and describe how they fit together Plot a path profile and ensure sufficient clearance over obstacles in the path Predict multipath fading and calculate path reliability Analyze and design a microwave system

Course Outline

Introduction Microwave and other radio systems: Microwave versus copper cable, fiber optics, and leased services Microwave frequency bands Regulatory matters: Rules, regulations and recommendations; radio licenses and permits. Regulatory agencies (FCC or your national body) Characteristics of Voice, Data, and Video Combining various signals Channelizing the radio spectrum: Frequency, time, and code division multiple access (FDMA, TDMA, CDMA) History of Analog Microwave Radio Frequency Division Multiplex (FDM) techniques and hierarchies L Carrier and ITU frequency plans Digital Transmission Systems Sampling theory Time Division Multiplex (TDM) techniques and hierarchies North American and ITU digital hierarchies Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) Synchronous networks (SDH/SONET) Digital Power Spectra and Bandwidths Bandwidth definitions and requirements Nyquist and other shaping Regulatory masks Baseband data signals Filtering and rolloff factors Digital Modulation Amplitude, frequency, and phase shift keying (ASK, FSK, PSK) Binary versus M-ary modulation QPSK, Offset QPSK, and p/4 QPSK Minimum Shift Keying (MSK) QAM and Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM) Orthogonal FDM (OFDM) Line of Sight Transmission Free space loss Effect of terrain Reflection and diffraction Fresnel zones and path profiles Clearance requirements Effects of Climate Refraction and variations in radio refractivity (N factor) Snell’s law and the effective earth radius (K factor) Rain attenuation; specific rain rate and effective path length; ITU rain attenuation model Other atmospheric attenuation Prediction of outage using computer models Fading Multipath fading Reflection and diffraction causes Rayleigh, Rician, and log-normal statistics of fading Multipath propagation models; Barnett-Vigants observations; ITU models Diurnal and seasonal variations Effect of Fading on Digital Radio Flat versus frequency selective fading Minimum versus non-minimum phase fading M and W curves Flat, dispersive, and composite fade margins Calculation of estimated outage using computer models Equalization Linear versus non-linear equalization Transversal filter Zero-forcing equalization versus minimum mean-square error Decision feedback equalization and training equalizer Antennas and Diversity Antennas types and parameters: Gain, directivity, radiation pattern, polarization, beamwidth Waveguide types and characteristics: Rectangular, circular Diversity types: Space, frequency, angle, polarization, hybrid Diversity combining and improvements over non-diversity systems Forward Error Correction Definition of coding types and coding gain Types of block codes with examples: CRC and Hamming codes Convolutional coding and Viterbi decoding, with example Interleaving and turbo codes Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) Coordination Interference analysis for co-channel and adjacent-channel Carrier-to-Interference (C/I) ratio Threshold-to-interference (T/I) ratio Manual and computer-aided design for intra- and inter-system interference Frequency planning Satellite and other external interference Detailed analysis of a terrestrial RFI case Performance Objectives Single link, tandem link, and end-to-end objectives U.S. and ITU standards and recommendations Availability and error rate objectives Measurements of bit error rate, eye patterns, and jitter Acceptance Testing and Performance Monitoring Factory tests; BER testing Use of spectrum and link analyzers Propagation instrumentation On-line performance measurement Fade margin testing Fault isolation and performance monitoring Path Engineering Manual and computer-aided design Site selection, mapping, path profile generation and analysis Reflection point analysis Selection of components to meet performance objectives Software examples; hands-on exercise designing paths; analysis of problem path Use of digitized terrain data from USGS Digital Elevation Models for path profiles Wrap-up: Course Recap, Q/A, and Evaluations