Decibals

Nadeem

Adding/Subtracting dBm and dB

Adding dB values is the same as multiplying with regular numbers. So if you add 10dB to a decibel value it is the same as multiplying a regular number by 10 Subtracting dB values is the same as dividing with regular numbers It is OK to add dB values to an initial dBm value. This is the same as starting with an input power level and adding amplification or subtracting attenuation from that power level. The final answer will be your output power level in dBm

Adding/Subtracting dBm and dB

In the figure above we have an input power level of 10dBm to which we add 20dB of amplification. The result is an output power of 30dBm. This is the same as starting with 10mW of input power and multiplying that by a factor of 100, giving an output power of 1,000 mW The formula for converting from dB to ratios just divides the dB value by ten and then takes the antilog

You don't need to memorize the formula, but you should memorize the fact that in the dB system, 0dB represents a ratio of 1 to 1 (100 to 1) 10 dB represents a ratio of 10 to 1 (101 to 1) You also need to memorize the following two factors as well 3 dB in the decibel system is approximately the same as a ratio of 2 to 1. 5 dB is approximatley the same as a ratio of 3 to 1

Adding/Subtracting dBm and dB

Since 0 dBm is defined to be 1 milliwatt, then 30 dBm would be 1,000 milliwatts or 1 Watt. Each step of 30 dB added to your signal power increases the power represented by a factor of 1,000 So 30 dBm is 1 watt, 60 dBm is 1 kilowatt, and 90 dBm is one megawatt If the dBm value is negative, then instead of multiples of 1mW you are dealing with fractions of 1mW. Each step of 30dB subtracted from your signal power decreases the power represented by a factor of 1,000 So -30 dBm is 1 microwatt, -60 dBm is a nanowatt, etc

Adding/Subtracting dBm and dB